"It means a lot. I'll be honest," Chytil said Thursday. "I didn't think about it too much this season; I was just focusing on my game and it just came yesterday and I'm very happy that it's done."
The 23-year-old forward has NHL career highs in goals (22), assists (21) and points (43) in 68 games. He could have become a restricted free agent after this season.
His previous NHL high in goals was 14 in 2019-20. He had eight goals in each of the previous two seasons.
Selected by the Rangers in the first round (No. 21) of the 2017 NHL Draft, he made his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 2017.
"I felt I was making progress since the first year. I know the production wasn't there that much the first years, but this year, finally, it's coming along with my game and that's what I'm saying all the time," Chytil said. "It's about process and about the hard work that I'm putting in and happy that I can see that hard work pays off. It's not finished; it just started for me and just keep doing the things that I'm doing."
Chytil has 136 points (64 goals, 72 assists) in 321 regular-season games, and nine points (seven goals, two assists) in 23 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"He's had an outstanding year and the two years that I've been here, he's gotten better every game so we're really happy with him," coach Gerard Gallant said, "and he's having a great year and again, it's a well-deserved contract.
"He's more competitive, winning puck battles, being more aggressive, but that's where it started with him and when he gets that confidence doing that stuff, then he carries pucks through the neutral zone, he's strong in front of the net, so his game is going. He's matured, he's getting a little older, and it takes some of those kids sometimes [a couple hundred games] to get to the where they're going to be, and 'Fil' has really taken off."
New York (44-21-11) is third in the Metropolitan Division, three points behind the New Jersey Devils and four points behind the Carolina Hurricanes.
NHL.com staff writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report
