The 2026-27 regular season is still four days away, and the injury bug has already bitten the Vancouver Canucks.

On Friday afternoon, Canucks General Manager Ryan Johnson announced that forward Filip Chytil has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to September 24.

The 27-year-old forward was injured late in the first period of Thursday’s preseason game against the Edmonton Oilers when his skate collided with referee Riley Brace, forcing him into the boards; his right shoulder took the brunt of the impact. Chytil got up quickly and skated to the bench, stayed there for a few minutes, then headed down the tunnel with a trainer. He did not join his teammates for the second period and was quickly ruled out shortly after the period began.

Chytil finished the game with just 4:54 minutes of ice time, logging just one shot on goal.

Johnson spoke with the media following Friday’s practice with an update on Chytil:

“As nasty as that looked, he came down on his shoulder in more of a muscular strain of the shoulder,” said Johnson. “We are tending to that. He was in great spirits this morning. Unfortunate bounce for a guy that’s been through so much. We’re just evaluating right now. It’ll be a week-to-week thing, but nothing at this point that is alarming. We’re just glad he’s okay after such an unfortunate spill.”

With this Chytil injury news, Friday’s roster cut of centreman Braeden Cootes, and Aatu Räty playing his maximum two preseason games as an NHL veteran, the Canucks will have just three natural centres available to play for the final preseason game against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night: Elias Pettersson, Marco Rossi, and Max Sasson.

According to Friday’s practice lines, it appears head coach Manny Malhotra will have Paul Cotter serving as the fourth-line centre for the preseason finale. He centred a line with Arshdeep Bains and Brendan Gallagher.