Second-line centre. The Vancouver Canucks’ biggest need exiting the 2024–25 regular season and heading into 2025–26. Many thought that the team would try to acquire one during the off-season through free agency or trade. However, as Training Camp loomed closer, the team had yet to make a big move.
This leaves the team at their current position. Vancouver’s Training Camp lines have Elias Pettersson punched in as the team’s first-line centre, and Teddy Blueger somewhere in the bottom-six. The assumption is that late January acquisition Filip Chytil will play in that second-line centre spot — but at the end of the day, the forward has no expectations as to where in the lineup he could skate come opening night.
“I’m not thinking too much about it,” he told the media on Day 2 of Canucks Training Camp. “I’m just doing the things, what I do all the time — just coming to the rink with a smile on my face, coming early, working hard on the ice, coming on the ice to work on my game. I’m not doing anything different from previous years. I just want to do what I can do best, and help the team as much as I can. I’ve just gotta work hard. I know what’s ahead of me, and I’m working for that.”
As much as Chytil may not be thinking about the role, he’s certainly seemed to embrace it. The speedy centre has been one of the team’s standouts so far at the start of Training Camp, and looks to have shrugged off the injury woes that ended his 2024–25 season back on March 15. Back in April, the forward spoke about how he wants to be “100% ready” for the 2025–26 season. So far, it looks like he is.
“I’m not thinking about it at all, to be honest,” he said about his concussion history and injury record. “Everybody sees that I’m missing the games and, of course, I understand all the people who are worried about that, but I know my body. I know my head the most and what’s going on.”
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For what it’s worth, Chytil looks ready to embrace the role many expect him to have. He’s been placed on a line with newly acquired forward Evander Kane and star prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki throughout the first half of Training Camp and has made a good impression alongside the two.
“He’s gonna have to be good for us there’s no question. But that’s true for a lot of our centres, that we’re gonna ask a lot of that group,” assistant coach Brett McLean said on Day 2 about what the team expects from Chytil and the centres. “We’re trying to really put in things here to him and to others, to make sure that puts them in the best situation so that they can do the roles we’re gonna ask them to do.”
Chytil’s task for this upcoming season is a daunting one, but one that isn’t causing him to stop and change the way he’s going about things. At the end of the day, the forward will approach every game the way he always has — with a smile.
“I’m not putting pressure on myself at all [ . . . ] I’m coming to the rink every day with a smile and working on my game, every day.”
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