The Moose hit the ice for a practice as they get set to conclude the home portion of their 2024-25 season with six games in Manitoba. Given it’s been some time since we got health updates on a pair of Jets prospects in Chaz Lucius (2021 1st) and Nikita Chibrikov (2022 2nd) as well as Parker Ford I asked Manitoba head coach Mark Morrison for the latest on that trio after skate concluded.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
In the third week of January we saw Jets 2021 2nd rounder Nikita Chibrikov, who was leading Manitoba in scoring and had two goals and one assist for Winnipeg in the four games he played this season, went down in a game against the Marlies and had to be helped off the ice. He was declared long-term initially and this was upgraded to “done for the season” shortly thereafter. Chibrikov can be seen around the rink working on rehabbing. This is what the bench boss in Manitoba had to say today after skate:
“His rehab is going great. The trainers tell us that he’s ahead of the process, working real hard. He’s here sometimes 5-7 hours a day, putting the time in, putting the effort in. He looks good. I heard today that maybe by the end of April he’ll be moving around on the ice a little bit. Everything looks good.”
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
It was a planned slow start to the 2024-25 season for Jets 2021 1st rounder Chaz Lucius who had worked extremely hard to overcome last season’s season-ending surgery to ensure he would be ready for an important season for him. The team had a plan in place to try to ensure he’d play games but also not over tax himself. He began the year playing three of the first eight games. Then he didn’t play a game for a little over a month (10 games) before returning to the lineup on December 6th. From that time until January 31st he played all 21 games for Manitoba including back-to-backs. He would miss the next two games before returning to the lineup on February 9th which was his 25th game of the season. About five days later we were informed he was dealing with a medical condition which required further evaluation but that it was not an injury. He has not played a game since (23 missed).
I asked Mark Morrison if he expects him back before the season ends. This is what the bench boss in Manitoba had to say today after skate:
“He’s still looking to get prognosis on the ailment. I don’t expect him back for the season.”
Tough news especially given all the hurdles he’s had to overcome in his young career at just 22 years of age.
“He’s fought through some surgeries and injuries. He worked really hard to get back to where he was and like you say he played 20 some odd games in a row and was making strides and then this hits. It’s unfortunate, feel bad for him but hopefully he can get over this one as well.”
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
After making his NHL debut in Boston (and scoring) in late January Parker Ford was reassigned to the Moose where he’d play five games for Manitoba before suffering an injury at the end of the fifth game with just 33 seconds left in the game. He would miss the next four games before head coach Mark Morrison informed me that he would be out long-term with an upper-body injury. The last update came March 5th where we learned Ford had had surgery and would need 6-8 weeks of rehab. Almost four weeks later this was the latest update via Mark Morrison:
“He had the surgery and he’s four weeks into it. I think the cast comes off soon and he starts working. He’s been on the ice skating and working as hard as he can. He’s just starting to hold the stick so yeah a couple more weeks and Parker will be good. He puts the work in put it that way.”
Given the timeline I asked if there’s a chance he could play a game or two for the Moose.
“I certainly hope so. It’d be great if he could but we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s going to be right on the edge there.”
That’s the latest on the trio of players.
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