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Canucks’ Filip Chytil out indefinitely with facial fracture suffered in practice
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Feb 20, 2026, 17:00 EST
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Filip Chytil’s injury-plagued first full season with the Vancouver Canucks has taken another unfortunate turn. The team has revealed that the hard-luck centre is out indefinitely after suffering a facial fracture when he was hit by a puck at the end of Wednesday’s practice at UBC.
Head coach Adam Foote relayed the news after the team skated again on Friday.
“Yeah, he’s got a fracture. I think the puck went off one of our defencemen’s skates and skipped up,” Foote said of the fluky incident during a mini-game. “It’s really some bad luck for him. It doesn’t look like surgery (will be necessary), but he’s seeing another specialist. We’ll cross our fingers and hope it’s not.”
At the time of the incident, Chytil was wearing a red non-contact jersey in an attempt to keep him as safe as possible as he returned to the ice following migraine issues that kept him out of the team’s final game before the Olympic break. 
However, as he was parked off to the side of the net, a Brock Boeser shot ricocheted off a skate and then off the plexiglass and caught Chytil just below the visor. He dropped to his knees, immediately removed his helmet and clutched the side of the face as he left the ice.
This is the latest setback for a player who has been through a lot this season. Chytil played just six games at the start of the schedule before being belted on an open ice hit by Washington’s Tom Wilson. That forced Chytil to the sidelines with a concussion for three months. He returned to game action on January 23rd and appeared in six more games before leaving a February 2nd game in Utah with migraines. 
Over the Olympic break, he saw a specialist for help treating the migraine issue and was cleared to resume skating with his teammates. And then as a result of not-so-friendly fire, Chytil is sidelined yet again.
In just over a year since he was acquired from the New York Rangers as part of a package for JT Miller, the 26-year-old has appeared in just 27 games and has been forced out of the line-up now due to head injuries on four separate occasions.
In those 27 games, Chytil has scored five goals and added four assists. This season he has three goals in the 12 games he has appeared in.
With just 25 games remaining in the team’s season, it’s hard to know if Chytil will suit up again. It may make sense for him to shut things down to have a full off-season to recover. 
On the surface, this injury sounds similar to the one suffered by Zeev Buium in a January 25th game against Pittsburgh. Buium has resumed practicing with the hockey club and, on Friday, shed the non-contact jersey that he had worn for the first two days of practice. Buium is still wearing a full cage to protect his face, but he hopes to be ready to play when the Canucks host Winnipeg in their first game out of the Olympic break on Wednesday at Rogers Arena.

Practice notes

Brock Boeser left practice early on Friday. Foote said the veteran winger is battling through an illness. Foote also said Olympians Filip Hronek, Elias Pettersson, Teddy Blueger and David Kämpf are expected to rejoin the Canucks for practice on Monday. Kevin Lankinen’s Finnish team is playing for a bronze medal on Saturday. As such, the netminder’s return to the club will be delayed.
Foote also said it’s unlikely the hockey team will name a captain for the duration of this season: “yeah, we’ll probably wait it out.”

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