Filip Chytil’s time in Vancouver has been defined far more by rehab rooms than highlight reels.
Since the Canucks landed him from the New York Rangers in the J.T. Miller deal, the 26-year-old Czech has appeared in just 27 games across two seasons.
Concussions have repeatedly derailed him, first after a blindside hit from Jason Dickinson on March 15, then again when Tom Wilson caught him with an open-ice hit on Oct. 19.
After another offseason spent recovering and working back, Chytil is trying to put together only his third season of more than 70 games.
The early part of 2025-26 gave a glimpse of what he can do when he’s right. He scored twice in Vancouver’s season opener against the Calgary Flames, then added another goal against the Dallas Stars on Oct.
- But Wilson’s hit sent him to injured reserve until Jan. 23, and his return was short-lived.
After six games, a “tweak” became a migraine and shut him down again (from ‘Canucks: From ‘tweak’ to ‘migraine,’ Filip Chytil now out indefinitely,’ The Province, 2/3/26).
He was getting closer to coming back in mid-February, but then took a puck to the head in practice on Feb. 18. That led to facial fractures, and the season was over.
There was at least a positive note in April, when Chytil was skating after practices and telling the media he expected to be ready for training camp: “There’s been so much what I went through in the last two years, which was very complicated, but yeah, I feel very good now. I was happy that I could join the group and skate with them, and yeah, I’m 100% confident coming to the training camp and that everything’s gonna be okay.”
If that confidence holds, Chytil could still matter a lot to Vancouver’s rebuild. He’ll turn 27 on Sept. 5, which puts him squarely in the middle of his prime and in the right age range for a team still sorting itself out. The biggest expectation is simple: stay on the ice, and stay away from another concussion, which would be the seventh of his career.
His exact job for 2026-27 is not settled yet. Vancouver has a crowded center group with Elias Pettersson, Marco Rossi, Aatu Raty, Paul Cotter, and Max Sasson, so a move to the wing may be necessary if he’s going to crack the top nine. If that happens, a spot beside Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk could make sense, with Chytil’s speed and transition game helping open things up for two slower forwards.
When healthy, the production has been there. Chytil is capable of 20 goals and 40-50 points, and the last time he played close to a full season he finished with a career-high 22 goals and 45 points. His speed changes the way Vancouver can attack through the neutral zone, and that remains one of his best tools.
The floor here is straightforward: close to 84 games played. Even if the scoring lands anywhere from modest to solid, that would count as a meaningful step forward for Chytil’s career and, down the road, his life after hockey.
The ceiling is bigger - 20-25 goals and somewhere in the 60-70-point range. If he reaches that level, the Canucks could either work out an extension before he hits free agency in July or trade him and try to recoup something near what they gave up for Miller.
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