Filip Chytil just can’t catch a break.
The Vancouver Canucks centre was back at practice earlier this week in a familiar non-contact jersey, after he was forced from the lineup due to migraines before the Olympic break.
Then, a fluke catastrophe unfolded at practice on Wednesday.
An errant puck hit Chytil square in the head. According to reporters, he left the ice dazed. Head coach Adam Foote confirmed that Chytil would undergo an MRI.
On Friday, the Canucks confirmed that the Wednesday incident wasn’t just a scare.
“Yeah, he’s got a [facial] fracture,” Foote said after practice on Friday in a clip posted by Rink Wide’s Jeff Paterson.
“I think it went off one of our defencemen’s skates and skipped up. Really, that’s some bad luck for him.”
No kidding.
Chytil has already been sidelined on four separate occasions, including this one, during his 13-month tenure with the Canucks.
His 2024-25 season ended after Chicago Blackhawks centre Jason Dickinson slammed Chytil into the boards. Then, the Czech centre lasted just six games this season before an open-ice hit sidelined him for over three months.
You can add those with the migraine-related absence, and now a facial fracture.
Foote didn’t want to give a timeline for Chytil’s absence, meaning for now, the forward is out indefinitely.
He also mentioned that Chytil probably won’t require surgery, but that he’s seeing specialists to get a final answer.
The Canucks have played 88 games since Chytil was acquired in the J.T. Miller trade last January. Because of injuries, Chytil has only played in 27 of those games.
Chytil is under contract for one more season after this one, with a cap hit of $4.437 million.