West Notes: Chytil, Cooley, Mailloux

The Vancouver Canucks are off to a somewhat slow start to 2025-26, going 1-2-0 in three games. After scoring five goals in their season-opening victory, the team scored just three across its next two games, and while sample sizes are still quite small, there are some notable trends emerging in terms of how first-year head coach Adam Foote is deploying his forwards. The Athletic’s Harman Dayal wrote today that through the first three games of the season, Foote “has been deploying” Filip Chytil “more like a No. 1 centre than” Elias Pettersson, the team’s star pivot. Dayal noted that Chytil currently ranks 14th in the NHL in five-on-five ice time per game, while Pettersson ranks 264th, and that Chytil is averaging nearly a full minute more of ice time per game than Pettersson at all situations.

Chytil has registered two goals this season playing alongside Evander Kane and Conor Garland, while Pettersson has posted one assist playing between Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk. What’s notable about this early-season deployment is that it’s somewhat surprising to see the pair of 2017 first-rounders deployed this way. Pettersson, who scored 102 points in 2022-23, has long been seen as the team’s star center, and is making $11.6MM against the cap through 2031-32, while Chytil has a career high of 45 points (also from 2022-23) and makes $4.437MM against the cap. Pettersson’s sub-par performance last season (just 45 points in 64 games) was one of the defining storylines of the team’s disappointing 2024-25 campaign, and through three games this season, signs are beginning to emerge that the talented but enigmatic 26-year-old may not have put those on-ice struggles entirely behind him.

More notes from the Western Conference:

• We previously covered how Wednesday’s start was a crucial game in the pro career of netminder Devin Cooley, and now that the contest has come and gone, it’s clear Cooley made the most of his opportunity. It was reported that the Flames were monitoring potential outside acquisitions to replace Cooley as the team’s backup netminder, but not before giving the 28-year-old veteran his chance to earn the role. Although the Flames fell 3-1 to the Utah Mammoth in Cooley’s first start of the season, Cooley put forth an impressive performance, saving 29 of 31 shots. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis wrote that yesterday’s game “could easily have gotten out of hand” without Cooley’s heroics, and head coach Ryan Huska told the media that he felt Cooley’s first start “was excellent.” While one brilliant start doesn’t necessarily mean the Flames are now sold with Cooley as their go-to option behind starter Dustin Wolf, it certainly doesn’t hurt Cooley’s chances.
• The offseason swap of 2021 first rounders, St. Louis Blues forward Zachary Bolduc for Montreal Canadiens defenseman Logan Mailloux, was one of this past offseason’s most intriguing trades. Trades of players who are each valuable, promising young talents in their own right are relatively rare. As a result, tracking how each player performs in their new environment is one of the more intriguing storylines to follow in 2025-26. Thus far, things are working out for Bolduc in Montreal but it’s a different story for Mailloux in St. Louis. The talented defenseman struggled quite a bit in the team’s Wednesday loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, has not registered a point through four games, and has a minus-seven rating. Of course, it’s still far too early in the process to even begin contemplating final judgments on the trade, and it’s important to note that young defensemen in many cases take longer to develop in the NHL than forwards. The Hockey News’ Lou Korac wrote that “the Blues believe in Mailloux” and “understand this is going to take time,” and teammate Colton Parayko said after the loss that Mailloux is “a great player” and has his “full faith.”