Photo credit: Sports Illustrated
The Vancouver Canucks coming into the 2025-26 season still have a lot of question marks, but one that has to be answered sooner rather than later is if Filip Chytil can match a similar production of J.T. Miller in order to be the teams reliable 2nd-line center.
One could say that the Vancouver Canucks’ expectations coming into the offseason, compared to what general manager Patrik Allvin was able to do has been vastly different, and it is now leaving the team with a lot of gaps that still need to be filled.
Vancouver Canucks have major expectations for Filip Chytil as their everyday 2nd-line center
But what kind of numbers would he need to produce for the Vancouver Canucks to not have to find an upgrade?
Before his season was cut short due to a scary head injury, the new opportunity he found in Vancouver was seemingly what he needed to finally blossom into the prospect he was once touted as with the New York Rangers.
during that 15-game stretch in Vancouver last season, there were flashes of a player there. The motor, the speed, and the hockey IQ were all on display, with the Czech looking like one of the most dynamic Canucks on any given night that he played. – Michael Liu
With that being said, his bar is not to become a bonified superstar in the NHL, but to have his game be built upon consistency, two-way reliability and staying healthy, so the team does not need to scramble to make a desperate trade.
If he is to exceed expectations this season, he realistically needs to put up 60-65 points with 17-22 goals in order to truly force the teams hand in keeping him in that role, and in turn looking at other areas of the roster that need more attention.
But over anything, with the injury plagued season the Canucks just dealt with, Chytil needs to stay healthy over anything, and if he plays anything under 70 games this year, he can’t really be relied on as the teams 2nd-line center.
Even if those numbers are a lofty goal, the team, management and fans would be more than happy with him putting up 45-50 points in order to produce solid secondary scoring to take the pressure of Elias Pettersson.
Previously on CanucksDaily