Filip Chytil left Thursday’s preseason game against the Edmonton Oilers after an accidental collision in the corner with referee Riley Brace, going shoulder-first into the boards. The Vancouver Canucks confirmed shortly afterward that he would not return.
“Forward Filip Chytil will not return to tonight’s game,” the club said in a statement, per Sportsnet. No further detail on the injury has been provided.
The reaction from Canucks supporters was less about the game than about whether the 27-year-old should keep playing at all. Chytil has suffered five concussions in his career, and the responses on social media leaned heavily in one direction.
“He needs to retire or he will seriously hurt his brain,” one fan wrote.
“Sadly Filip Chytil may want to think about retiring so he doesn’t hurt himself long term,” another said, while a third put it more bluntly: “Would somebody please make him retire, it can not be worth it anymore.”
It’s worth being clear that nothing reported so far suggests this was a head injury. Chytil went in shoulder-first, and the Canucks have not indicated otherwise. The concern is driven almost entirely by what came before it.
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How many concussions has Filip Chytil had?
His recent history is difficult reading. Chytil missed most of the 2023-24 season and playoffs with the New York Rangers due to an upper-body injury and concussion-related issues, sustained the fifth concussion of his career in March 2025, and then lost significant time in 2025-26 to a concussion and subsequent migraines.
In February this year, a deflected slap shot hit him in the face during practice, causing facial fractures and effectively ending his regular season. As Heavy noted, he has played a combined 27 games across the past two seasons.
Chytil was drafted 21st overall by the Rangers in 2017 and signed a four-year extension in 2023 before being traded to Vancouver in January 2025 as part of the J.T. Miller deal. He has 80 goals and 93 assists in 405 NHL games.
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