Phil DiGiuseppe gets called up but doesn't dress for game as Filip Chytil plays vs. Flyers

PHILADELPHIA — Lias Andersson might have been the one to get the call from Hartford on Sunday night, had he not left the organization over the weekend after requesting a trade. Instead, after Filip Chytil banged his knee in the third period of Sunday’s win over Anaheim, the Rangers called up Phil DiGiuseppe from Hartford to serve as the emergency forward in case both Chytil and Kaapo Kakko were unavailable against the Flyers.

As it turned out, Kakko missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury but Chytil, who ended a 10-game goal drought Sunday, was able to play. So DiGiuseppe did not dress for the game.

“With Fil, we weren’t sure,’’ coach David Quinn said. “You just never know. We were close [to Hartford] and it’s an easy opportunity to get [DiGiuseppe] here, so we brought him up.’’

Andersson, the seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft, apparently was frustrated by the lack of NHL ice time he had gotten with the Rangers and decided he needed a change.

“It’s hard to be a young player this day and age,’’ Quinn said. “Our league has really created a situation where young players are forced into it probably sooner than they should.

“And this isn’t just about Lias; it’s about all these young players in the league . . . The game’s changed so much in the last 10 years because of social media . . . You know, we’re all human beings. You’re affected by what you read.’’

He was asked if there is a balancing act between giving young players opportunities and making it hard for them and forcing them to earn it.

Said Quinn, “There’s definitely a balancing act of balancing when to coddle and massage the situation and when to be firm and demanding.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.