The clouds of uncertainty that have been constantly hovering over Filip Chytil are now grayer than the Seattle skies the Rangers flew through on Saturday.
No, the Czech midfielder was not on board as he underwent further evaluation in New York for the upper-body injury he suffered last game in a collision with Kandre Miller along the half-wall.
A year and 15 days after missing 10 games last season due to what was believed at the time to be a fourth concussion, Chytil and the Rangers are back in the gray zone.
For the coaching staff, his teammates and everyone who had a front-row seat to Chytil's struggles on his road to recovery last season, watching him land in the same place quickly upsets him even more.
“It definitely is,” Ryan Lindgren told The Post after practice Saturday in Tarrytown. “It's tough dealing with that. You just hope for the best for him. He's a guy that we love. He's a big part of our team.”
There is a chance Chytil could join Rangers at some stage on the road trip, according to a source, but it looks like a long shot unless the 25-year-old is ready to play.
This early in the season, putting Chytil on a plane after such an injury would be — and given his history — unnecessary.
Expect the Rangers to be very intentional in how they deal with Chytil going forward.
The longer this saga goes on with his health, the more the focus will be on Chytil the person rather than Chytil the player.
“We are always careful with our players,” coach Peter Laviolette said when asked about the need to be careful at the club. “No one comes back without the doctors and everyone is doing their job.”
The sooner the Rangers can determine a specific course of action regarding Chytil the better, lest we forget what a playoff run last season was.
Despite going 6-0 to start the postseason, Laviolette reinserted Chytil into the lineup.
The Rangers may have won this Game 3 over Carolina in overtime, but that was also about to show when the cracks in the team's game began to show.
Chytil was unable to return to the ice the next day. He missed the next three games.
From there and through the rest of the playoffs, it was always something to watch.
The Rangers clearly thought they needed him to win — and they probably did — but it was annoying.
Chytil has only been able to play in five of the last nine matches.
Having the third line center's status raised up in the air almost every day was not conducive to a stable environment.
The Rangers shouldn't go down this road again.
It didn't help them then, and it won't help them now.
Johnny Brodzinski landed in Chytil's usual spot in the third unit between Will Coyle and Kaapo Kakko during practice on Saturday.
The veteran forward skated with the two youngsters in 13 games last season.
That would be the short-term plan without Chytil, but the long-term plan – if necessary – remains vague.
“He went out there and gave us good minutes,” Laviolette said of Brodzinski. “He's fast and competitive, and I think this position really suits him. He's played there before. He's done that. I think he's really comfortable there now.”
