The forward collided with Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues at 9:11 of the second period during a 2-1 loss at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday. Chytil remained down after the hit before he was looked at on the bench and went to the locker room.
"It's really disappointing," Rangers coach David Quinn said Tuesday. "I feel for Fil big time. As everybody has talked about, he certainly was getting off to a really good start. We were all watching the player we know he's capable of being evolve. Really a tough blow for him personally and a blow for our team when you lose a centerman of that caliber. Those guys are not easy to find."
Chytil has scored three points (two goals, one assist) and has been the center on the third line, the Rangers' most productive at even strength through five games, with Kaapo Kakko (two goals) and Phillip Di Giuseppe (four assists).
"Obviously it's a big loss," Rangers forward Brett Howden said. "[Chytil] is such an effective player out there when he's on his game. His speed, his skill, obviously he's playing really well for us and obviously that's a big dagger for us. But we've got a lot of guys in the room that can step up and play that role, got a few centermen on the team too. I think everybody is going to have to step up to fill that absence."
Chytil, who has scored 52 points (28 goals, 24 assists) in 149 NHL games, will be replaced in the lineup by Brendan Lemieux when the Rangers play the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, MSG-B, NHL.TV).
NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen contributed to this report
