An important piece could be making a return to the Vancouver Canucks‘ lineup in the near future.

Centre Filip Chytil was spotted at Canucks practice on Sunday wearing a full-contact jersey for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury on Oct. 19.

Currently on the injured reserve, it was not made clear when Chytil would be cleared to return to the Canucks’ lineup. He joined the team for their six-game road trip earlier in January and has been a participant at practice, just not in a full capacity.

“We’ve had discussions over this time period with our group, and he’s had great people around him getting him back, and that was discussed,” head coach Adam Foote told reporters of Chytil’s ability to return to practice. “He wouldn’t be doing it if he wasn’t confident he would be OK.

“He seems so happy, been around him a lot. He seems real confident. So it’s nice to see him feel that, right?… He seems like he’s in a real good place.”

Chytil suffered the injury after taking an open-ice hit from Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson near the start of the season. He stayed down on the ice for some time after the hit and had to be helped off the ice by trainers.

The 26-year-old had gotten off to a solid start in his first full season with the Canucks, tallying three goals in the team’s first six games. He was part of the trade last season that sent J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers.

However, he has a history of head injuries and missed the end of the 2024-25 season after suffering a concussion in March. He played only 10 games in the 2023-24 season with the Rangers after sustaining a concussion in November.

“From the beginning, it was very hard, because I was hopeful that I can manage to play all 82 games, but it wasn’t the case…” Chytil told reporters after practice. “Sometimes it’s the days like this, the last two years, that have been very hard for myself and for my wife, for my family, especially. I missed so many events, I missed so many games in NHL, now I’m gonna miss Olympics as well. So it sucks, but it is what it is.”

The Canucks (16-27-5) continue their eight-game homestand on Monday as they play host to the New York Islanders (26-17-5).