Prospect Info: David Jiříček

[AKL]

Actually surprised because there is a logjam up front...Ohgren/Haight/Bankier/Milne/Toporowski and then Heidt and Yurov and maybe Kumpulainen and Rieger Lorenz.

Not saying I disagree with the trade or anything - but I def thought a forward was going back.

I don't know if I'd call that a logjam, there are some very clear tier breaks in there and a couple of them may not even be in the AHL next year

 

[57special]

He can't be. Have you ever seen Trenin skate? It looks like he has an invisible horse between his legs.

And not only that, the invisible horse is on skates

Actually surprised because there is a logjam up front...Ohgren/Haight/Bankier/Milne/Toporowski and then Heidt and Yurov and maybe Kumpulainen and Rieger Lorenz.

Not saying I disagree with the trade or anything - but I def thought a forward was going back.

Me too. Thought they would try for a Kumpulainen or Lorenz, at least.

 

[Prior]

Brodin certainly is sounding longer term. But bringing Jiricek into the NHL lineup this quickly is certainly a choice.

 

[MK9]

And not only that, the invisible horse is on skates

Me too. Thought they would try for a Kumpulainen or Lorenz, at least.

Are they roller blades? Because I was a knothead as a kid (Correct, I clearly have not grown out of that. Hush) and tried that. Works twice as shitty as you'd even think it would.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Wow. Okay I knew Minnesota was going to trade their first this year.

 

[BagHead]

Well, it wasn't a trade for anything TOO painful from the Wild, but he certainly didn't come free of charge.

I don't love the idea of a guy with poor skating and a bad attitude, but hopefully at least the second half of that is overstated. That's the more important half, IMO. If he has a good attitude, he can improve his skating, but if he has a bad enough attitude, he won't develop at all.

 

[Circulartheory]

I'm over the moon. There aren't many oppurtunties of young RHD/centers with top 10-draft talent that becomes available for bargain prices. The consesus usually is, you either draft them or overpay them on the FA market. And when they do, Minnesota generally gets outbid by another team that has a better prospect.

I am very adament that 2025 is a weak draft and picking #25ish makes it even worse. So you squeeze out value out of that by adding Hunt, who was stuck behind Chisholm and honestly isn't more than a #5 guy. And you turn these expendable pieces for a flawed yes, but high potential prospect in a high demand position.

Brodin-Faber
Buium-Jiricek

And we still got a 2, 4, 5, 6 picks in 2025. And 9 picks in 2026. And Ohgren ... and Heidt, and all our previous top 90 picks (Stramel, Khusnutdinov, Haight, Kumpulainen, Lorenz etc etc.). None of that we have to give up.

 

[ThatGuy22]

Sounds like Chisholm better keep his bags packed.

From Russo's article on it.

"Jiricek’s camp accepts that he will begin his Wild career in Iowa. While it shouldn’t be long before the Wild make room for him on the big club"

Unless they can find someone to take Merrill or decide to bury him

 

[Circulartheory]

Sounds like Chisholm better keep his bags packed.

From Russo's article on it.

"Jiricek’s camp accepts that he will begin his Wild career in Iowa. While it shouldn’t be long before the Wild make room for him on the big club"

Unless they can find someone to take Merrill or decide to bury him

Let's keep Chisholm.

 

[AKL]

Chisholm is a better all around defenseman than Merrill at this point, I'd rather rotate Jiricek/Bogosian/Chisholm as the 7th D than have Merrill be a part of any of it.

I mean, waive the guy if you need to, there should be no excuse.

 

[pfunk]

Sounds like Chisholm better keep his bags packed.

From Russo's article on it.

"Jiricek’s camp accepts that he will begin his Wild career in Iowa. While it shouldn’t be long before the Wild make room for him on the big club"

Unless they can find someone to take Merrill or decide to bury him

I’d be pretty irritated if we’d be willing to lose Chisholm over a guy like Merrill. Not that Merrill has been particularly bad this year, but he doesn’t have any of the upside that Chisholm does.

 

[Circulartheory]

I’d be pretty irritated if we’d be willing to lose Chisholm over a guy like Merrill. Not that Merrill has been particularly bad this year, but he doesn’t have any of the upside that Chisholm does.

I think Merrill was in demand because the Wild like having that option of size. Chisholm for some puck moving, Merrill for size/toughness.

Jiricek entering the equation makes it interesting because he's the size/skill that could replace Merrill. It's hard to replace Chisholm with Spacek or Peart at this point.

And for fun, reminder why Jiricek was hyped in the first place

 

[thestonedkoala]

Cam Barker 2.0?

 

[ThatGuy22]

From Portzline on the CBJ side.

"When Jiricek has the puck on his stick — when he’s determining the direction of the play — his skating is not a concern at all. But when he’s defending, especially when the puck changes direction abruptly, his ability to quickly adjust is not smooth."

Not a statement I'm a fan of.

 

[Circulartheory]

Cam Barker 2.0?

Except Barker cost a Heidt/Ohgren type.

 

[57special]

Don't know if i see Jiricek playing on the left side. I thin k the play is to get him here and practicing a bit, introduce him to Ness, send him down to Iowa to get some games, then bring him up if a RHD gets injured and his play merits it.

Except Barker cost a Heidt/Ohgren type.

I thought Barker cost leddy?

 

[Puhis]

From Portzline on the CBJ side.

"When Jiricek has the puck on his stick — when he’s determining the direction of the play — his skating is not a concern at all. But when he’s defending, especially when the puck changes direction abruptly, his ability to quickly adjust is not smooth."

Not a statement I'm a fan of.

Eh, he's a bigger fellow, and while we're accustomed to smooth, Brodin-like skaters in today's NHL, it's gonna take time for him to get this skating down. Remember that it was good enough to play not only in Czechia's WJC team, but also in Czech Extraliga vs. men at 17 and 18.

It's also fixable. As to why there hasn't been significant development yet is anyone's guess. Could be a combination of prioritising other things in the offseason and perhaps simply bad advice, or him/his camp thinking it's something he can work around. Not that I know; simply a hunch.

Looking at videos to jog my memory a bit and while those are but videos, hardly a shift by shift, I'm still curious to see him up in the big team. I don't see it as someone being "gifted" a spot, more so management and coaches getting a chance to see how he performs in a game situation, things he needs to work on, and so on. I'd say it's unlikely he's a full-time NHLer this year; these things take time, but we'll see how he adapts. Let's just hope Brodin's injury isn't too serious so we can see those two together soon as well. Should be a great spot for a young player to learn.

 

[57special]

Brodin is a top 4 player. Don't see Jiricek being handed a top 4 spot anytime soon.

 

[Circulartheory]

Don't know if i see Jiricek playing on the left side. I thin k the play is to get him here and practicing a bit, introduce him to Ness, send him down to Iowa to get some games, then bring him up if a RHD gets injured and his play merits it.


I thought Barker cost leddy?

For my recollection, Leddy was a solid B+ prospect at the time of the trade. A middle pairing player like how Ohgren is a top 9 forward prospect.

Barker was also signed at $3mil AAV which was a good chunk of in 2009 - the cap was US$56.8 million. He was also almost 24 years old. He also already played 4 years in the NHL.

Jiricek just turned 21. He's signed on an ELC contrract that expires in 2026. Still a prospect and not a pro that has reach his ceiling yet. And we didnt give up a Leddy. We gave up a B-/C+ prospect in Fiddler/Thretheway/Gastrin/Murtagh

 

[thestonedkoala]

Except Barker cost a Heidt/Ohgren type.

I mean Hunt is still a pretty decent prospect. And we gave up a first, second and fourth round pick for a guy being described similar to Barker. Not a great skater and struggles to process the game at a high level.

 

[DANOZ28]

fail / overpaid. fire billy b4 he does anything else stupid.