Former Rangers center healthy again ‘knock on wood,’ ready for big role with Canucks
Filip Chytil’s been down this road before, first with the New York Rangers and now with the Vancouver Canucks.
It’s the road to recovery after sustaining a head-related injury.
So, when discussing his current health status recently after his 2024-25 season was cut short by a concussion, Chytil wasn’t shy about using a well-worn cliche.
“Knock on wood, I feel very good and feel very positive,” Chytil told the 100% Canucks Podcast.
Forgive the soon-to-be 26-year-old if he’s a bit cautious and superstitious when it comes to his health. Not even a change of scenery to the Pacific Northwest changed his luck for the better after the Rangers traded Chytil to the Canucks in late January.
It took just six weeks before Chytil was injured again. Chicago Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson checked him from behind, causing Chytil’s head to whiplash as he fell to the ice. Chytil missed the final 16 games of the season with an injury he explained was “more about my neck” than a concussion, per se.
Five months after sustaining that latest injury, Chytil believes he’s in a good place physically.
“Great, I feel great,” Chytil said. “I said it at the end of the season that i feel I was ready to go offseason. I was very happy that I finished the season with the guys on the ice for a couple of practices.
“Two weeks after I came [back to the Czech Republic] I started to work out and skate. Now, it’s almost four months already where I’m working out and skating.”
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Filip Chytil reflects on time with Rangers, what lies ahead with Canucks
As he’s done throughout his eight-year NHL career, Chytil is working out this summer with his brother. His intent is to “get better on the ice and protect me from injuries on the ice.”
Though he didn’t share specifics, Chytil clearly is aiming for his first healthy season since 2022-23, when he set NHL career-highs with 22 goals, 23 assists and 45 points in 74 games with the Rangers. His goal is to land a spot in Vancouver’s top-six forward group, something that escaped him in New York, where he was primarily a third-line pivot.
“In New York, we always had great centermen ahead of me. And even when I finally jumped ahead of one of them and even was on top line … the injury came again. I always fell back to the third center position,” Chytil explained.
Never was that more true than in 2023-24, when Chytil began the season centering a line with Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere. That lasted 10 games before he sustained a serious head injury in early November, and later had a relapse in his recovery. Chytil missed the rest of the regular season — 72 games — before he appeared in six postseason games that spring.
“Even (that) season when I missed the whole year, I started as a second center, I played a lot, and then the biggest injury of my career,” he said.
Chytil’s going to get a chance to play a bigger role with the Canucks this upcoming season. Elias Pettersson remains the Canucks No. 1 center, but Chytil is the clear No. 2 on the depth chart. In 15 games with the Canucks last season, Chytil averaged a career-high 16:42 TOI. That was two minutes more on average than his 41 games with the Rangers earlier in the season.
Though he scored a goal in Canucks debut on Feb. 2 against the Detroit Red Wings, Chytil managed just six points (two goals, four assists) in 15 games before the injury ended his season prematurely.
Chytil, who got married this summer, is confident that he will produce offensively for the Canucks this season. That is, of course, if he remains healthy.
“Everything depends on my health right now,” Chytil stated candidly. “I know what I can do and I will do everything to help make our team make the playoffs again, and make it a successful season for us.
“But I need to focus on my health, as well.”
