With nothing left to play for, the Vancouver Canucks are shutting down centre Elias Pettersson and Filip Chytil for the rest of the season.
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet spoke ahead of Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Wild, and provided updates on the two centres:
“Probably going to shut [Pettersson] down,” said Tocchet after the Canucks’ morning skate. “He’s getting better, but at this point we’d rather him just try to get back stronger.”
Pettersson has missed the last nine games with an upper-body injury that he sustained during the Canucks’ 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers on March 22nd. He had been labelled as day-to-day during the recovery process but never appeared to be truly close to returning. Now that the Canucks have been eliminated from playoff contention and have just three games remaining on their schedule, it made sense to shut him down for the rest of the season to allow him to properly rehab for next season.
“At this point, it’s progressing,” said Tocchet, “but not at the pace we want, so why even play him?”
It’s an almost fitting end to a disappointing season for Pettersson, one that not only saw him underperform on the ice but also draw into controversy off the ice. He finished the year with just 15 goals and 30 assists for 45 points in 64 games, his worst season output in an 82-game campaign.
While Tocchet never officially said the Chytil was shut down like he did with Pettersson, he also indicated that Chytil isn’t close to a return. With the three games left, it’s highly unlikely that the centre won’t return. Chytil has missed the last 13 games with a concussion that he sustained during the Canucks’ 6-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Chytil finishes the year having played just 15 games with the Canucks after they acquired him as a part of the return for J.T. Miller. He had 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points in 56 games on the year, and two goals and four assists for six points in 15 games.
The Canucks currently sit in fifth in the Pacific Division with a 37-29-13 record. They’ll look to build on back-to-back wins when they host the Wild on Saturday at 7 p.m. PST.
