Sometimes the biggest swing a team can make comes from inside its own room. For the Vancouver Canucks, that possibility starts with health. If Filip Chytil and Jonathan Lekkerimäki can get through next season without the injury setbacks that have already shaped their time in Vancouver, the club’s outlook could look a lot different.
Chytil is the more established piece, and the frustration there is obvious. Vancouver didn’t bring him in because of a talent question.
His skating, skill and offensive instincts have long made him a natural fit as a middle-six centre. The issue has always been whether he could stay on the ice long enough to put it all together.
Last season, that never really happened. Chytil missed 44 games with an upper-body injury, then dealt with migraines after he returned, and later suffered a facial fracture when he was struck by a puck during practice. That came on top of the injury history that followed him earlier in his career, which is why some fans have started to wonder whether he can ever become a reliable part of the lineup.
Still, the upside is easy to see if he finally gets a normal year. The Canucks don’t need him to become the engine of the offence.
They need him available, steady and capable of giving them the kind of responsible, skilled minutes that made him such an intriguing player with the New York Rangers. A healthy Chytil would deepen Vancouver’s centre ice and give them another player who can help create offence.
Lekkerimäki brings a different kind of possibility. With him, the question isn’t whether the Canucks have already seen enough. It’s whether they can be patient enough to let a young talent develop the way they hoped when they took him 15th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft.
The shot is the calling card. His release is quick, accurate and dangerous, and that kind of weapon is hard to find.
But turning that into a regular NHL role means more than just scoring touch. He has to get stronger, handle tougher matchups and become more comfortable in the hard areas of the ice.
That process got interrupted when a shoulder injury forced him to stop and eventually have surgery. For a young player, that kind of setback makes everything harder.
It’s tough to build confidence when you’re constantly adjusting around an injury. The encouraging part is that he is still young, and the Canucks still have time to make the right call.
Maybe he starts with the Abbotsford Canucks in the American Hockey League and gets big minutes there. Maybe he wins a job in Vancouver.
Maybe he becomes the offensive winger the organization envisioned. What shouldn’t happen is a final verdict based only on his first 37 NHL games.
He may not need a different team. He may just need time.
That’s the larger thread for Vancouver. The Canucks still have issues to sort out, and they still need more consistency and continued growth from their young players. But there’s also a case that they may be closer than people think.
A healthy Chytil would change the centre depth. A healthy and confident Lekkerimäki would add another offensive option on the wing. Neither outcome is guaranteed, but both are internal boosts that don’t require a blockbuster trade or a major free-agent splash.
Teams spend every offseason hunting for additions. For Vancouver, the most meaningful one might simply be getting a few important players back at full strength.
In hockey, health is never promised. That’s what makes this whole thing so unpredictable.
But if the Canucks get a little luck on the injury front, they could end up looking a lot more dangerous than plenty of people expect.
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The event also doubled as a reunion of sorts for some familiar names from the U.S. Olympic mix, with Dylan Larkin among the players in attendance. Larkins situation in Detroit remains unresolved after his trade request, but for one night the focus was on a different kind of star power and the kind of cross-sport scene that tends to follow Hughes wherever he goes. [Read more 🡒]