Can Filip Chytil's Return Kickstart the Canucks’ Season?
If you’re a Canucks fan, you’ve spent the season asking a lot of questions: Where did it all go wrong? Why does it feel like the pieces just don’t fit? A big part of the answer is obvious: Filip Chytil.
Chytil’s a player who hasn’t been able to show his value to the Canucks.
Chytil, their young forward with the kind of energy and drive that makes a line click, last played on October 19. At that point, the Canucks were 4-2-0 and rolling with optimism. Chytil was driving the second line with a 61 percent expected-goals share. Then he got hurt. And he stayed out. Forty-four games. That’s more than half the season. It’s enough to flatten momentum, shake chemistry, and leave even the most talented roster chasing its own tail.
Now he’s back tonight against New Jersey. Chytil will center Brock Boeser and Drew O’Connor. The hope is immediate: can this youngster re-inject life into a team that has limped through too many games without a clear spark? It’s probably too late for a playoff push—Canucks fans know the standings are a bridge too far—but the real excitement is in what comes next.
Chytil is a player who can change the pace of a game.
A healthy Chytil gives the Canucks something they’ve been missing: a player who can create, distribute, and change the pace of a game. He’s the kind of forward who can make others around him better—sometimes quietly, sometimes in a way that turns an otherwise flat game into something watchable. Even if it doesn’t produce wins this month, it gives the coaching staff and management a chance to see what they really have—and who might deserve a long-term spot.
It changes the lens through which we view the departed elite blueliner Quinn Hughes. With Chytil back, suddenly there’s another piece that makes you wonder if Hughes’ contributions were as limited by roster gaps as they seemed.
The Canucks aren’t a powerhouse, but they have the makings of a good team.
The Canucks aren’t suddenly a powerhouse. The season isn’t suddenly alive. But having Chytil back? It’s a reminder that they’ve got pieces worth betting on. If nothing else, it’s a chance to see what this young forward can do when he’s healthy—and to dream a little about the team he might help build for next year.