ST. PAUL, Minn. — With half a dozen teams swarming around Don Waddell trying to land a 6-foot-4 right-shot defenseman that went sixth overall in 2022 and was named the Best Defenseman in the World Junior Championship two years ago, Bill Guerin had to up the ante for Columbus Blue Jackets prospect David Jiricek on Saturday — a 21-year-old player he has long coveted and frankly had been trying to get for weeks.
It sounds like the Wild president of hockey operations and general manager had already offered the Blue Jackets blue-line prospect Daemon Hunt and at least a first-round pick and second-round pick.
Was Jiricek really worth adding a third- and fourth-round pick on top of that haul?
But when you look at the low percentage of mid-round picks that make an impact in the NHL coupled with the fact the Wild’s prospect cupboard is stuffed and their NHL roster is occupied by lots of players with term on their contracts, Guerin was not about to hold up the deal — or worse, ruin it — because he wouldn’t tack on a third and fourth.
In the end, he decided the extra picks were window dressing.
So Saturday afternoon, the Wild landed Jiricek and a 2025 fifth-round pick for Hunt, a top-five protected 2025 first-round pick and a future second-, third- and fourth-round pick.
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Guerin called the price paid for Jiricek a “no-brainer.” In his plan to build the Wild into a contender, they’re at the stage where Guerin feels he can use prospects and draft picks as currency.
“It just made sense,” Guerin said. “He’s not 30, he’s not a rental. He’s a 21-year-old defenseman that we can invest in. And we did. That’s how I look at it. It’s an investment. … Every person on our staff, from the amateur guys who followed him to pro guys, wanted to do this deal.”
Jiricek played six games for Columbus this season and was scratched 12 times before being assigned to Cleveland, where he scored two goals — including an overtime winner — and an assist in four games. The Wild assigned him to Iowa on Saturday, but it sounds like he’ll be recalled in the next few days with defenseman Jonas Brodin injured.
David Jiricek with the OT game-winner! What a goal… @DavidJiricek @OctagonHockey pic.twitter.com/vRW3MoK2z8
— Allan Walsh🏒 (@walsha) November 24, 2024
Head scouts hate giving up draft picks, especially first-rounders. The satisfaction of pulling levers on draft picks and seeing them ultimately make impacts is what motivates them to scour the world for hockey players.
Judd Brackett, the Wild’s director of amateur scouting, was in Saginaw on Saturday night doing just that. But discussing the load of picks the Wild would have to give up with Guerin on Saturday, Brackett still felt like the price was worth it.
A Wild win over Nashville on Saturday night would mean the Wild would tie the Winnipeg Jets for the most points in the NHL.
Where the Wild go from here is to be determined, but as of now, it looks like the Wild would select in the mid-to-late 20s in the 2025 draft.
A player of Jiricek’s pedigree would not be there.
“Having to give up a first always stings, but a sign of any good trade is that both teams are giving up something that stings a little bit as it goes the other way,” Brackett said. “First-round picks are something that we covet, but the opportunity for a player that was drafted sixth overall that we really liked in his draft year and love now, it makes all the sense in the world.
“We’re almost at Christmas. We’ve got a grasp on this year’s draft, so we have a little bit of a sense of what a mid-20s pick will look like this year versus years past. David Jiricek still has some things to work on, obviously, as he transitions to playing pro hockey in North America. But it’s really hard to get these type of players.
“Six-foot-four, right-shot defenseman that was two years ago the World Junior Defenseman of the tournament.”
Waddell, Guerin’s Blue Jackets counterpart and once a finalist for the Wild’s GM post before he pulled out to remain with his previous employer, Carolina, said, “A couple of more teams stepped up and made things interesting. Minnesota has been hot since Day 1. I was in constant contact with them, and Billy is a friend of mine. But he understands that I’ve got to do what’s best for the Blue Jackets. I was in no hurry to do this. He kept poking every day, trying to see where we were. We talked a couple of times (Saturday) and there were a couple of (picks) he improved, until I said, ‘OK, that’s fair.’”
Brackett feels Guerin is building the Wild the right way.
“Right now, if you look at the Wild, under 22 on the back end, you’re looking at (Brock) Faber, Jiricek, (Zeev) Buium and (goalie Jesper) Wallstedt on that goal line,” Brackett said. “That’s a pretty strong way to build not just for current success but long term too.
“In my eyes from a scouting director’s standpoint, we have four top-10 picks outside the NHL right now between Wallstedt, Buium — I think Buium is a top-10 pick all day long — Yurov and Jiricek. If you do re-drafts, we believe they carry top-10 value from their draft years.
“That’s with a roster that already features (Matt) Boldy and (Kirill) Kaprizov and Faber.”
So why was Jiricek so sought by the Wild as it plans for life after Jared Spurgeon when his contract expires after the 2026-27 season?
“The aggressiveness he plays with, the assertiveness,” Brackett said. “He wants the puck. He owns a really big shot. Like, he has an absolute bomb. He has an ability to get into spots where he can utilize it and support the rush. He plays definitive in his D zone. You’ll see, even though he’s 6-4, he’s still a little gangly and rangy. He’s still got some room to fill out being 21.
“But the competitive nature of him as a whole is appealing. That World Junior Czech team was very good, and he was the biggest reason why.”
(Courtesy Byron Bader / Hockey Prospecting)
There’s no doubt Jiricek needed a change of scenery in Columbus. He burst onto the scene in 2022-23 and scored 38 points in 55 games in the AHL — a league that is often unkind to teenagers.
But three coaching staffs in Columbus clearly felt he wasn’t yet NHL-ready.
“We’ll see what type of responsibilities he gets on the ice, whether it’s power play or no power play,” Guerin said. “We’ll see how he kills penalties and things like that. I think it’s going to take us a little while to get him up to speed here. There’s a lot for him to learn. And we’re gonna try to help him along and move him along.”
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Jiricek’s biggest weakness is said to be his skating. His crossovers, especially, don’t seem natural.
“He is an average skater, but it’s good enough,” Brackett said. “You’re not going to look at him and go, ‘Oh, Jeez!’ It’s good enough. And as he gets older and gets more and more of man strength, I think it’ll be fine. It wasn’t an issue in his draft year. It was a little bit of strength-related. But, if there’s an area that’s behind, I’d agree his skill, his compete, his hockey sense are all better than his skating.”
Hunt, who was pulled off the ice before the Iowa Wild faced Charlotte on Saturday, was essentially boxed out in Minnesota. The Wild felt he was NHL-ready, but they have seven defensemen on the roster. But in the future, the Wild envision Brodin, Jake Middleton and Buium as their top-three left-shot defensemen. They also have youngster Declan Chisholm, who is playing well in an elevated role for the injured Brodin and scored his first goal of the season Saturday night.
“I hated putting him in the deal, but I had to,” Guerin said. “He’s such a great kid and carries himself really well. He’s going to play in this league for a while.”
The interesting part of Guerin putting a first-round pick in the deal is the Wild hope to stay out of LTIR so they can keep accruing cap space and potentially add a significant piece in advance of the trade deadline. The Wild could use other top prospects in that deal, or as Guerin quipped, “We have other (first-round picks) too. I mean, let’s just get there first.”
As Saturday’s trade showed, Guerin is no longer shy about using his picks and prospects as currency to get what he wants.
And he clearly wanted Jiricek.
(Photo: Paul Vernon / AP Photo)
