Canucks’ Filip Chytil to make season debut after shoulder injury

Vancouver Canucks center Filip Chytil is slated to make his 2026-27 season debut Thursday after missing the first eight games while recovering from a shoulder injury.

Chytil, 27, skated on a line with Paul Cotter and Brock Boeser in the Canucks’ morning skate ahead of their matchup with the Florida Panthers on Thursday. The 6’2″ center initially rejoined the club for practice on Tuesday, midway through their current six-game road trip, which concludes Saturday with a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Canucks have been without Chytil since he exited their 2-1 preseason loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Sept. 24 after colliding with an official and falling awkwardly into the end boards in the offensive zone. Chytil started the regular season on the Canucks’ injured reserve list.

To free up a spot on their 23-man active roster, the Canucks waived center Aatu Raty on Wednesday.

One of the NHL’s most injury-prone players in recent seasons, Chytil has appeared in just 27 of a possible 121 games over parts of three seasons with the Canucks since being acquired from the New York Rangers in January of 2025.

A first-round pick (No. 21 overall) of the Rangers in the 2017 NHL Draft, Chytil began his NHL career with parts of eight seasons on Broadway before the Rangers packaged him with Victor Mancini and a 2025 first-round pick to acquire J.T. Miller from the Canucks. The Czech center has collected 80 goals and 173 points in 405 career NHL games with the Rangers and Canucks; he’s added eight goals and 13 points in 36 playoff contests.

The Canucks (2-6-0) have lost five consecutive games in regulation and are in for a tough test on Thursday when they visit the Panthers (3-2-2) at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. Leevi Merilainen and Akira Schmid are expected to start in goal for the Canucks and Panthers, respectively.