BURSTWINNIPEG — Three games into his NHL career, Nikita Chibrikov is a goal-per-game player.
“We should probably lock him up now before he does that for the rest of the year,” Josh Morrissey quipped after the Winnipeg Jets’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, where Chibrikov opened the scoring.
While talk of an extension was said tongue in cheek, the 21-year-old Russian winger’s body of work has been impressive. As the stakes have risen, so too has his game. His first kick at the can came last spring, where he scored during the Jets’ final regular-season game in which several key players sat out to rest.
He parlayed last season’s trial-run into a strong training-camp showing this fall, where he was one of the team’s final cuts. And then, after recording a team-high 13 points in 19 AHL games with the Manitoba Moose, Chibrikov was recalled on Monday to help fill the void left by Nikolaj Ehlers’ injury. Unlike Brad Lambert — the first player to get an audition in Ehlers’ absence — Chibrikov hasn’t just been treading water in the big leagues. He’s been thriving.
Before Thursday, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the 2021 second-round pick would be reassigned to the Moose once Ehlers returned. But after how he played against Vegas, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff may be inclined to keep him indefinitely.
In addition to his goal, Chibrikov recorded three high-danger shot attempts, one blocked shot (which was perfectly choreographed), one takeaway and one hit. He was engaged physically, digging his way through puck battles and making plays along the wall. He made sound decisions, helping the Jets’ second line — alongside Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti — execute zone exits against a hard forechecking Golden Knights team. He played with pace, executing high-percentage plays at top speed. And above all, he played a straight-lined, assertive game, unlike some of his teammates.
“He’s taking advantage of the opportunity that’s put in front of him and you know what? That’s all you ask of your players,” coach Scott Arniel said. “We’ll give you the chance and it’s yours to go out and take and he’s done a pretty good job of it.”
Now, if Chibrikov was just another undersized scoring forward — his days would likely be numbered with the Jets. We see it time and again in the NHL: a young player turns heads while filling in for an injured player only to be reassigned because they lose their top-six spot and aren’t of much use in the bottom six.
“Lots of times, you’re concerned that maybe without the puck, (young players) might be a liability,” Arniel said.
But that’s not the case with Chibrikov. The five-foot-11 forward isn’t your stereotypical ‘undersized’ scorer, either.
“He’s obviously a smaller guy but he’s stocky. He’s strong on his skates,” Dylan DeMelo said. “He’s willing to go in those dirty areas, he took a few (hits) tonight but he’s a guy that gets first on the puck and (can) get it out to make a play. He’s fearless out there, he’s got a good knack for the net and he’s been rewarded for going to the net.”
Chibrikov’s great attributes are exactly what the Jets need. And it stretches beyond just the short-term, with Ehlers on the shelf. Winnipeg’s 23.85 five-on-five scoring chances per 60 minutes ranks 29th in the league and according to SportLogiq data displayed during a local broadcast, they rank 30th in rebound chances, 31st in rush chances and 22nd in forecheck chances per game. Whether it’s overpassing on odd-man rushes, or kiboshing their transition chances by zig-zagging in the neutral zone, the Jets have overcomplicated their game, especially lately. They’ve also veered away from the ‘attack mentality’ we saw during their historic start to the year.
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Chibrikov plays a very direct, north-south game. Arniel isolated one of his net-front chances as a shining example of what he wants more of.
“It’s as simple as Vladdy coming off the wing, shooting that puck off the pad and Chibby throwing in the rebound,” Arniel said. “Some of those. That’s kind of more of the mindset that we have to have.”
Keeping Chibrikov around would make for some uncomfortable roster decisions. Winnipeg would have to scratch an NHL regular, like Morgan Barron or Rasmus Kupari — two players that have given the Jets solid mileage in fourth-line rolse. That’s not an easy decision for any team, let alone one that has seldom tinkered with its forward lines all year.
But when you’ve got a player making a profound impact like Chibrikov, you can’t just send him down because he’s waivers-exempt.
Even if his goal-per-game pace drops off.
