SprDaVE
Moderator
- Sep 20, 2008
- 54,939
- 39,290
I would still do it. There is always the need for a big RHD and his upside is quite tantalizing … even if he tops out as a reliable top 4 guy and not a top pair, that price is good for the long term.
Landing him and not giving up one of their top assets in Greb, Knies, Cowan, Danford, Minten would be pretty stellar. There is a need for quality D in the pipeline too.
I agree the fit is awkward especially since the Leafs are competing but there was a big opportunity here too
The fit was very awkward. Jiricek is all about draft pedigree. He barely played in Columbus at the NHL level. Was he going to play over Timmins or Hakanpaa this season? Probably not. But I'm also not as confident in his upside so maybe that doesn't help.
We already have a fairly limited amount of good assets to trade in terms of picks and prospects. So using a lot of it to not even fix the lineup doesn't really make sense. If Jiricek was a center or even a winger, I would have probably been a lot more interested.
Minny obviously liked him enough to trade a lot of futures for him. We'll see if it works out.