Confirmed with Link: Jiricek, 2025 5th to Minnesota for Hunt, conditional 2025 1st, 2026 3rd and 4th, 2027 2nd

[Fred Glover]

Waddell long interview starting at 54 minutes.
Discussed the Jiricek trade.

The honesty and engagement shown by GMDW is refreshing

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[SteelCityCannon]

The honesty and engagement shown by GMDW is refreshing

He's great. Love that he talks to fans at intermissions. He's just a hockey guy.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

The honesty and engagement shown by GMDW is refreshing

Interview went from 54 minutes to about 1:07. Brief summary:

1) Jiricek was definitely a "cut our losses" deal.

2) With all the cap space and picks, the CBJ are likely to be very active in trades this season.

3) UFAs Provorov and others have been discussed by other GMs with Waddell. DW says that they'll "circle back" on these players after the players/agents make their intentions on their desire to pursue free agency known.

4) Waddell thought that goals would be harder to come by. Pleasantly surprised.

5) Had preseason talk with Elvis and told him to concentrate on being a good teammate and that if that was done then the puck stopping would improve. Mentioned that there had been rifts between Elvis and a few teammates.

 

[Fred Glover]

Interview went from 54 minutes to about 1:07. Brief summary:

1) Jiricek was definitely a "cut our losses" deal.

2) With all the cap space and picks, the CBJ are likely to be very active in trades this season.

3) UFAs Provorov and others have been discussed by other GMs with Waddell. DW says that they'll "circle back" on these players after the players/agents make their intentions on their desire to pursue free agency known.

4) Waddell thought that goals would be harder to come by. Pleasantly surprised.

5) Had preseason talk with Elvis and told him to concentrate on being a good teammate and that if that was done then the puck stopping would improve. Mentioned that there had been rifts between Elvis and a few teammates.

I trust Waddell to get something done rather than Jarmo who constantly threatened to weaponize the cap space

 

[Indy18]

Interview went from 54 minutes to about 1:07. Brief summary:

1) Jiricek was definitely a "cut our losses" deal.

2) With all the cap space and picks, the CBJ are likely to be very active in trades this season.

3) UFAs Provorov and others have been discussed by other GMs with Waddell. DW says that they'll "circle back" on these players after the players/agents make their intentions on their desire to pursue free agency known.

4) Waddell thought that goals would be harder to come by. Pleasantly surprised.

5) Had preseason talk with Elvis and told him to concentrate on being a good teammate and that if that was done then the puck stopping would improve. Mentioned that there had been rifts between Elvis and a few teammates.

I am hearing in this if we are remotely close we are buyers this season, if not we are going to be VERY active this summer using those picks for premium players but not going all in because KJ and Fantilli are gonna get VERY EXPENSIVE soon.

 

[CannonFire1]

This pictures looks like he is stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

 

[CBJ goalie]

Interview went from 54 minutes to about 1:07. Brief summary:

1) Jiricek was definitely a "cut our losses" deal.

2) With all the cap space and picks, the CBJ are likely to be very active in trades this season.

3) UFAs Provorov and others have been discussed by other GMs with Waddell. DW says that they'll "circle back" on these players after the players/agents make their intentions on their desire to pursue free agency known.

4) Waddell thought that goals would be harder to come by. Pleasantly surprised.

5) Had preseason talk with Elvis and told him to concentrate on being a good teammate and that if that was done then the puck stopping would improve. Mentioned that there had been rifts between Elvis and a few teammates.

Thanks for the coles notes version.

1) Felt this was the case. Just not a player that fits GMDW vision, and I'm ok with that.
2) I have to admit, I'm not crazy about this. I trust GMDW but trades for the sake of it were never my thing. The team is gelling, there's an identity being formed- and this is without Jenner. Adding guys could disrupt chemistry. And there's some hungry guys in the pipeline....
3) This is smart use of assets that may not intend to stick around.
4) That makes 2 of us. The offense has been a pleasant surprise. KJ has taken a wonderful step forward, and Monahan has been a perfect addition.
5) I knew Elvis was a bit of an issue with his teammates, so it's good to know he/they have come around or made amends. Elvis' body language in net is different this season. His resurgence was necessary for this team.

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

Interview went from 54 minutes to about 1:07. Brief summary:

1) Jiricek was definitely a "cut our losses" deal.

2) With all the cap space and picks, the CBJ are likely to be very active in trades this season.

3) UFAs Provorov and others have been discussed by other GMs with Waddell. DW says that they'll "circle back" on these players after the players/agents make their intentions on their desire to pursue free agency known.

4) Waddell thought that goals would be harder to come by. Pleasantly surprised.

5) Had preseason talk with Elvis and told him to concentrate on being a good teammate and that if that was done then the puck stopping would improve. Mentioned that there had been rifts between Elvis and a few teammates.

6) Waddell said they don't want to trade their own 1st, as they figure it will be "pretty high." Had calls from about seven teams about Minnesota's 1st.

It's good that they don't get carried away. Regardless of if they make the playoffs, from a long-term perspective, I think they need to be sellers to stock up on draft capital to make moves in the off-season.

 

[DarkandStormy]

If Provorov returns a 1st at the deadline that's suddenly three 1st rounders to work with and could be part of a package to go after a big name to shore up the blue line.

So these picks could be part of something larger over the summer. We'll have to see. But I don't get the sense Waddell wants to around and draft a bunch of guys the next 2-3 years. He understands the "window" could/should be opening soon.

Whether they can get similar (or even better) long term value than holding onto Jiricek...well, that will determine if this trade is a win.

 

[ThirdPeriodTurtle]

"Olivier, I guarantee you, is not going anywhere" at the end of Waddell's segment.

 

[puckgoalnet]

I'm not naming any names but there are people who are way too negative for whatever reason over a hockey trade.

I've followed this team since the very beginning, attended the very first game and have seen a sh*t ton of losing. I just watched this team go 3-0-1 in a their last 4 games and actually look like a team with structure.

We have new management and new coaching and I'm far more positive about the future of this team than I have been in YEARS.

Maybe we can take a breath and have some perspective. Sometimes a cog doesn't fit in the wheel and you just need to move on. It's ok

Well said ... and I'm right there with you. Day 1 season ticket holder. First time I've thought we finally have all the management pieces in place.

 

[majormajor]

looking back on their draft year, i was one of the few here who didn't love jiricek. i was hopeful that he'd go earlier and they would get gauthier. wanted mateychuk badly at 12, but was also high on bichsel, geekie and ostlund.

in hindsight, picking mateychuk at 6 and bichsel at 12 would've probably been the best selections, but they're probably getting better value out of getting mateychuk at 12 and converting jiricek into a bundle of picks + hunt (who i really like as well).

I was just checking my memory on my 2022 opinions and I was indeed high on some of the same players. From our now locked 2022 draft thread:

Ultimately you swing wherever you think the homerun is. I don't think we especially need LD but I think Mintyukov and Mateychuk and Bichsel are all potential homeruns. I also wonder if Gauthier might be just as good as PLD. I hope they just take a swing and leave position aside.

On my final final list I had

Slafkovsky
Cooley
Jiricek
Mintyukov
Wright
Gauthier
Mateychuk
Ostlund
Bichsel
Nemec

I haven't watched Bichsel since then but I hear good things and I was secretly hoping we could swap Jiricek for him. Our trade return is fine given the circumstances but I would have preferred [if possible - from the reporting it was likely not possible] to get a singular prospect who is close to ready like Bichsel. And he's a 6'5 human eraser, we could certainly use that.

Gauthier always seemed like a high floor goal scorer to me but the PLD comparison also now seems prescient in another way - an incredibly well built player that doesn't have the mentality to fully use their physical gifts. I'm not down on the player, it's more that he's just a vanilla player to me.

Ostlund's slow start in the AHL is surprising to me. It puts into context how lucky we've been with Del Bel Belluz, a player from that same draft who is shredding the A.

 

[tunnelvision]

From our now locked 2022 draft thread:

That was a great draft thread

 

[CBJWerenski8]

On Monday, Jiricek was asked what happened in Columbus — why, after such a strong start with Cleveland as a teenager and being named the top defenseman in the 2023 World Junior Championship, he had such trouble gaining the trust of multiple coaching staffs.

“Sometimes it’s just not a good fit, right?” he said. “That was not up to me. I never want to leave, but it is what it is, and I’m so happy to be here right now.”

David Jiricek makes a big first impression on Wild teammates: ‘Holy s—, he’s tall’

“I’m excited,” Jiricek said. “I heard it’s a hockey state, so that’s the first thing I know. And the second is it’s frickin’ cold out here."

www.nytimes.com

 

[VT]

If a player, especially a defenseman, isn't fast, he has to have a great position play, know when to play hard. The question is, is Jiříček capable of learning all of this? Look, we have RH defensemen, also you wrote Mateychuk can play very good on right side. So where is a problem?

 

[VT]

David Jiricek makes a big first impression on Wild teammates: ‘Holy s—, he’s tall’

“I’m excited,” Jiricek said. “I heard it’s a hockey state, so that’s the first thing I know. And the second is it’s frickin’ cold out here."

www.nytimes.com

Bla bla bla... . He wanted to be traded. Nothing bad, it is normal if anyone wants to change his job. But let he does not say he did not wanted to leave CBJ.