Older Brother of Penguins Prospect Retires Due to Genetic Condition
Chaz Lucius has battled injuries and pain for a few seasons. The 2021 first-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets has been fighting to both stay on the ice and progress to the NHL, but those hopes ended Tuesday.
Lucius, whose younger brother Cruz is a Penguins’ prospect playing at Arizona State University, released a statement retiring from professional hockey at age 21 because of a genetic disorder, Ehler-Danlos Syndrome (EDS).
The syndrome attacks the connective tissue that supports the body’s joints and organs. Lucius was advised to immediately end his hockey career.
In three seasons since turning pro from the University of Minnesota in 2022-23, Lucious has played in just 54 games and scored seven goals.
“As I struggled with incurring and recovering from various joint injuries over the past several years, I thought I was just unlucky,” Lucius’s statement read. “With this diagnosis of EDS, I now realize my body impacted by EDS could not handle the physical nature of playing professional hockey. Given this condition, my injury history, and the physical nature of hockey, I have been medically advised not to continue to play.”
Lucius also thanked the Winnipeg Jets organization and his teammates.
Cruz Lucius, who is 11 months younger, plays for ASU. The Penguins acquired Cruz in the Jake Guentzel trade in March 2024. Lucius has 10 points (2-8-10) in 19 games this season.
Just wanted to say: the disorder doesn’t “attack tissue”. It’s a genetic mutation that messes up the coding for collagen. Your tissue isn’t “braided” correctly and gets damaged as you age and progress. Depending on the mutation, some can be just hypermobile to vascular (more serious version of the disorder, age of death is usually 22). Mine affects some of my organs.
Yes, it’s ehlers danlos syndrome – it affects the production of collagen, which is the supporting connective tissue in the body. There are different versions of the disorder as mentioned here. It’s a spectrum. Definitely not a great situation for Chaz even just orthopedically- sorry to see that he has to deal with this. I wish him the best
I have EDS as well with systemic stuff and it sucks. Hopefully you can steer clear of the crazy complications
Please correct the 2nd paragraph. Cruz not Chaz.
Sad to see his career end before it really got started, but he’s choosing his long term health which is the wise move. Best of luck in the future.