Rangers Filip Chytil's perspective on life has changed after injury filled career

"I know where I was at," Chytil told lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, following Saturday's double-session practice at the MSG Training Center. "I'm telling you, from my point of view, I was okay. I knew I was going to be back and playing again."

"When you lose something that you love the most and what you do every day since I was 4 years old, it was very hard for me to adjust to a different life in that moment," he said.

"In the media, it always looks worse than it actually is," he said. "In some moments, it looked like it was the end of the world. Even my closest people started to believe that. And, for me, I was telling them, �Stop reading that, because you've got me telling you how I feel.'"

The conversation turned even darker when Chytil opened up social media.

"You get so many messages from the fans," he said. "Of course, there are nice messages, but then you get bad messages, as well. It was a tough moment for everybody close to me."

− "That was maybe of 10% of my abilities," he said, assessing his play − it represented a critical hurdle to clear in preparation for a 2024-25 comeback. He'd play six playoff games, a triumph for him by any means.

"I spent two great months with the whole team," he said. "The time without them was very hard. When I played, at least I reminded myself of the speed of the games at the most important time in the season."

"That speed of the game, I still had it in my head, so I had to jump right away into my practices at home," he said.

The next three months were wholly committed to training. Chytil quipped that he had plenty of extra time with his family while he was injured, which freed him to devote the entire summer to hockey. But nothing, he noted, can replicate live NHL action.

"I have to build everything from zero right now," he said.

"Getting back at the end of the season probably set him up to have a good summer," Laviolette said. "He's come back in very good shape. He looks excellent on the ice. There are no limitations with him whatsoever. I actually think maybe the opposite. Maybe a little bit more is good right now to try and get back in and find the game and the game shape part of it, and the feel that goes with the game."

"If I would be scared, I could play somewhere in (Extraliga) in Czech now and enjoy my life. But why?" he said. "I'm back. I'm 100% ready to work, be 100% myself, and I'm not scared of any contact, because I got a couple hits in the playoffs and I was okay."

"I have a different view on everything I do," he said. "I'm working now with unbelievable people at home, here, and it just completely changed my mindset, from last year to this year. It showed that playing the game is not just something I should take for granted, but just enjoy every moment and enjoy every day I'm on the ice."