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Long road trip comes to an end as Canucks try to negotiate the soft centre
Published Oct 23, 2025 • Last updated 14 hours ago • 5 minute read
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Quinn Hughes is pressured by Penguins forward Justin Brazeau during Wednesday game in Pittsburgh. Photo by Gene J. Puskar /APArticle content
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It’s game day and the Canucks are in Nashville to play the Predators. They then come home on Friday to face the Canadiens at home Saturday and then the hated Oilers on Sunday at Rogers Arena. That’s a pretty unforgiving schedule, three games in four days with a travel day in there coming at the end of a five-game road trip. Yikes.
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Pettersson’s ice time
Yesterday Patrick Johnston wrote about Elias Pettersson’s ice time: the Canucks’ No. 1 centre was way behind the team’s other four centres in five on five ice time.
Adam Foote was asked about it after Thursday’s morning skate in Nashville and pointed out how much Pettersson had played on special teams on Sunday. Plus, the Canucks were playing their third game in less than four days.
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“You try to manage,” he said.
The thing is Pettersson’s ice time is down more broadly. His even strength ice time is down about two minutes from last year, though his power play time is up almost a minute from last year.
Pettersson had only four shifts in the third period: but that was about managing his player, Foote said.
Line shuffles
Brock Boeser has returned from his personal leave and will skate on a new line: he’s reunited with left winger Jake DeBrusk, but it’s sophomore centre Max Sasson who will be between them.
Pettersson will centre Evander Kane and Conor Garland.
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No Marchessault
Jonathan Marchessault won’t face the Canucks tonight. He’s out with a lower-body injury.
Should Chytil retire?
Filip Chytil health and future is a question that is just not going to go away.
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It’s believed the Czech centre is dealing with some pretty tough post-concussion symptoms because of that heavy hit he took from the Capitals’ Tom Wilson on Sunday.
He’s had a least a half-dozen concussions in his career and so it make sense that there might be worry about his health first and his playing future second.
Rick Dhaliwal reported on CHEK-TV on Monday that the Canucks may look to use the new season-ending long-term injured reserve designation on Chytil which would allow them to gain full relief of his salary cap hit if they were to declare him out for the full season. (The math has changed on how LTIR relief is otherwise calculated, with players who are eligible to return getting relief only for their previous season’s cap hit.)
On Tuesday, Dhaliwal and co-host Don Taylor asked TSN’s Craig Button what he thought of the situation. The former GM was straightforward in his reply: “To me, it’s time to have the hard conversation with Filip Chytil that he may have to retire. And he may have to think about another profession. That’s a hard conversation to have,”
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Play VideoWhat we’re saying
They could use some youth and enthusiasm. Speaking of which, here’s Steve Ewen’s Prospect Power Rankings from yesterday.
“In his season-debut weekend with Seattle, Braeden Cootes had five shots in a 5-0 loss to Prince George on Friday and seven shots in a 6-1 win over Wenatchee on Saturday. He had an assist in the victory. Seattle (4-6-0-0) is at Prince George for two games this weekend.”
Ben Kuzma also wrote yesterday on the problems the Canucks have at centre.
“Making prudent moves to ensure the Canucks are more than just annual playoff hopefuls is part of the roster Rubik’s Cube exercise to align all sides. That would resonate with the captain, who has one more year left on his deal before free agency beckons. Being thin down the middle is not a path to the post-season, or appeasing for a generational player.”
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What they’re saying
Nashville have lost four in a row and fingers are being pointed at veteran Steve Stamkos.
“The match with the Nashville Predators just isn’t panning out right now. Is it beyond repair?
They have tried desperately to move Stamkos around the lineup to find the right linemates to get him going. He has just one goal through the first seven games, and that goal was kind of a lucky break on the power play with a pass that ended up deflecting into the net.
Even more concerning is that Stamkos isn’t even getting shots on net. It’s not as if he is getting the heavy volume of shots and just getting turned away. If that were the case, then you’d feel much more confident that the flood gates were going to eventually open and the goals will start coming.”
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Hmm. Star player lamented because he’s not getting enough shots. Sounds familiar.
The Canucks injuries at centre seem to have everyone stoking the fires around a trade, but everyone seems to have the same deduction, it’s a wasteland out there.
“Following Filip Chytil’s latest setback, a likely concussion that could sideline him long-term, general manager Patrik Allvin is searching for ways to shore up his lineup down the middle. But as Frank Seravalli reported on Frankly Hockey, the pickings are slim. Elliotte Friedman, perhaps the NHL’s most plugged-in and respected insider, says the Canucks know what’s out there and it’s not much.
“They’ve been willing to give up young assets to make the right fit happen,” Seravalli said, “but [Allvin] might have to consider some alternative measures … not players you’d be getting super excited about.”
That’s the bad news. The centre market is dry, and with every team knowing the Canucks are desperate, the asking prices are sky-high. As one executive told Friedman, “When you’re drowning, teams don’t throw you a life-preserver — they throw you an anvil.”
Allvin has roughly $2 million in cap space, limiting immediate moves. By March, that could grow to nearly $19.4 million, per PuckPedia, making a future splash possible. But for now, Vancouver may have to gut it out.”
Check back for more Canucks news throughout the day …
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