On the David Jiricek Trade + Targets for the Gap

Don Waddell put rumors to bed over the weekend and traded David Jiricek along with a 5th round pick for the Minnesota Wild’s 2025 1st round pick (top 5 protected), Minnesota’s 2027 2nd Round Pick, Colorado’s 3rd Round Pick in 2026, Minnesota’s 4th round pick in 2026 and young D prospect Daemon Hunt.

There’s plenty of coverage on the trade especially by Athletic Beat Reporter Aaron Portzline, so I won’t seek to add too much here, other than to connect some of the dots and read between some lines.

The quotes are added in groups but aren’t necessarily a linear representation of the story. I’m just highlighting the important bits for discussion later.

Second, the Blue Jackets would have never taken calls on Jiricek if his skating wasn’t a major concern about his ability to be an impact defenseman in the NHL. It was an issue when he was drafted, but it hasn’t improved much — if at all — in the last 2 1/2 seasons.

He looked tentative and indecisive, which are death sentences in Evason’s system. In training camp, he was jumped on the depth chart by Jake Christiansen. Once the season started, he was surpassed by Jordan Harris and 37-year-old veteran Jack Johnson.

“We had some pursuers (on Jiricek) immediately, yes,” Waddell told The Athletic. “But I was not there with any of the offers. So I told (Jiricek’s agent, Allan Walsh) that if we get a deal, great. But if we don’t, we’ll keep plugging along.”

David Jiricek was traded primarily because the new Blue Jackets regime values skating above many other characteristics. As far as I can tell, Jiricek made no request to leave and just wanted to play hockey. There were no reports of him refusing AHL deployment this season just that his evaluation of himself was different than the Blue Jackets’.

Wading through post-trade comments is a minefield with misinformation and couching in all directions. The relationship with the Blue Jackets and David Jiricek is over and now we move to the decision-making evaluation stage.

What I find most interesting is the interaction of risk between the two clubs. The Columbus Blue Jackets chose to trade David Jiricek because they felt they got a sufficient offer to his value. The Wild had no problem playing a host of later picks believing they were getting a player who could contribute to the long-term success of their club.

It makes sense for the Wild to take a chance on Jiricek, although a bit surprising that they would spend a first-round pick on an unproven prospect at this juncture. Conventional wisdom says a team like Minnesota, currently one of the best in the NHL, would use that pick as a major chip at the trade deadline.

“Draft picks, whether we use them to take players or use them as assets to add players, those are good to have,” Waddell said. “Players are always available at the draft, and you need assets to acquire those players.

“It’s not like July 1, where it’s just straight-on free agency. Some of the best shopping I’ve done as a GM has been at the draft.”

What this tells us is that Waddell saw this transaction as a matter of risk. He had a big, risky boom-or-bust asset without a short-term value gaining position and decided to cash out of the risk. In getting nearly exclusively picks, Waddell essentially liquidated the asset for pure currency.

The Wild, despite their position in the standings, had no problem incurring such risk. Perhaps they feel their future is more clear and don’t mind bringing in a boom-or-bust high-cost asset or perhaps they believe their system and valuations to be superior to the Blue Jackets’.

In my opinion, it’s highly curious that the Blue Jackets would be a team without the stomach for risk. The Blue Jackets are not yet good, are currently in some phase of a rebuild (evidenced by Waddell’s refusal to pay assets for any other short-term gains) and yet preferred the more conservative assets in the trade.

While Jiricek remains a defenseman of rare upside and on-ice identity, it is certainly true that he has not progressed much in his time since draft, especially with respect to decisionmaking and risk-taking.

David St-Louis breaks it all down with recent tape from his latest AHL game and it captures the breadth of Jiricek quite well I think. I am a big fan of David Jiricek despite his development issues and, frankly, I’d rather have the player than a bundle of picks.

Suffice to say, the Blue Jackets don’t think he can put the rest of his game together and that comes primarily down to his skating. The Minnesota Wild, with their skating coach Andy Ness, believe they can correct this aspect of his game. If they do, it’s hard to imagine anything the Blue Jackets can do with the return to come out on top of this transaction. At least then, perhaps, will the Blue Jackets look inward and make changes to their development staff and process.

In-House Insurance

Trading David Jiricek gives the Blue Jackets some objectives and gaps to fill with their newfound liquidity. Trading Ivan Provorov, as we should hope he does, can potentially add bullets to the proverbial chamber.

One reason the Blue Jackets may have felt comfortable moving on from their potential rebuild pillar partially because they have some immediate insurance in Dante Fabbro and a potential future pillar alternate in Denton Mateychuk.

While Jiricek and Mateychuk were in the pipeline, it seemed clear that there was no room for bets on young defensemen while still having a Werenski-partner and post-Gavrikov hole to fill. Now, we have two options, at least to some extent, around which we can blueprint future defense moves.

On the bright side, defense corps are often the least-drafted position of Stanley Cup winners and the Blue Jackets already have the most-important to be drafted piece in a bona-fide 1D named Zach Werenski. Timelines and archetypes are quite complicated but now we can, at least, allow ourselves to take a peek at young defensemen who might be added to the corps during the rise to contention.

Denton Mateychuk

Denton Mateychuk cooked for an entire CHL tenure for the Blue Jackets, something that a top prospect hasn’t done in recent memory. He’s capping that development arc off with one of the most productive performances by a U21 defenseman in the AHL since 2005.

This was Mateychuk’s last year of junior hockey where he was, perhaps, the best player in the CHL. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the best player outside of the NHL, partially because Celebrini, Leonard, Nikishin and Matvei Michkov weren’t there yet, but it was certainly a dominant and cohesive performance.

He has some flaws with respect to the total skating output but he’s an absolute gamer and someone who I have no doubt will be a big difference maker for the Blue Jackets.

Dante Fabbro

The early returns on Fabbro’s joining the Blue Jackets have been nothing short of great. Fabbro, like his time in Nashvillie, was going to be defined by how he complemented and unlocked Zach Werenski. So far, excellent.

If anything, he’s certainly valuable as a solid minute holder next to Werenski who gives coaches a lever to pull late in games for more offense. That’s been Damon Severson for the most part, but could be Denton Mateychuk down the road. This hearkens back to Victor Hedman winning a cup alongside Jan Rutta or Zach Bogosian but being shifted next to Mikhail Sergachev situationally.

I’ll be using plenty of the AllThreeZones cards to give us quick snapshots into the skillsets and abilities of the trade target/watchlist. Here is what Dante Fabbro’s looked like just last season for the Nashville Predators.

He works with Zach Werenski primarily because of his ability as a puck retriever but also because he can prevent transition chances against. He isn’t a perfect fit but he checks the most important boxes that allow Zach Werenski to use his legs and dominate play.

Whether he’s a long term fit for the Blue Jackets depends a lot on his next contract. He’s not a perfect defenseman and he’s made his share of mistakes while struggling with some speed. At $2.5 million, he’s a no-brainer who’s skillset fit gaps can be mitigated by the salary flexibility he brings. At, say, Severson’s $6.5 million, he makes less sense.

The benchmark, at least previously, was $4 million for a high-volume 1D partner. Times are changing and the salary cap is rising, so that might remain a good benchmark. Fabbro should be evaluated over a longer sample size, especially to dial in what exactly he brings, but moving him a the TDL could be on the table if Waddell is wheeling and dealing.

Brief Criteria

Primarily, I think the Blue Jackets need to fill the Vladislav Gavrikov hole. While I would love a reunion there, especialy with a Dmitry Orlov-esque high dollar value two year deal, but that will be a decision left to free agency.

The Blue Jackets will need a formidable rush defender and potentially a net-front crease clearer. Evason asks all of his defensemen to jump into the play, so they’ll need an active one as well.

Given the current roster players of Werenski, Severson and the potential long term presence of Fabbro and Mateychuk, the Blue Jackets look to need young longer-term right handed D to replace Jiricek but also more immediate defensively oriented left-handed defenders. It’s possible that Mateychuk flips to his off-side well.

The biggest criteria is skating. Waddell and Evason clearly value skating (so long as you look past some of the Provorov weaknesses and Jack Johnson as a whole). In my opinion, they need rush defending, right handed upside and long-term fits as well.

For the most part, this is only a preliminary list and these are not players, outside of K’Andre Miller, who have my full throated endorsement. The “fun” thing about losing Jiricek in a trade of multiple pieces of currency is that we know something is coming. Some of those picks, I believe, should be used to find long term roster improvements (I think these picks would be of greater value if traded for young actual talent rather because of the way GMs value picks and the increasing quality of the NHL). For now, we can get started on keeping our side eyes on prospects and players who otherwise wouldn’t have had a place in the system.

Big Fish

The defensemen in this category represent the highest potential possible adds. If they are even made available they would likely come at significant and greater than Jiricek return costs. That being said, I’ve included them here because I think they would be worth nearly whatever price.

K’Andre Miller

K’Andre Miller is one of the best rush defenders in the sport.

He’s been good since his draft season and would have been in incredible pick for the Blue Jackets had they taken him over Liam Foudy in 2018. Now isn’t the time to talk too much about how the Blue Jackets should have drafted in hindsight but it’s worth mentioning to add context to his NHL numbers.

In 2022-23, K’Andre Miller was a force in Corey Sznajder’s hand-tracked data. For whatever reason, the New York Rangers chose to offer him a bridge contract instead of paying him money early.

Here’s a mixtape of his rush defending in that better 2022-23 season.

Now, the New York Rangers are on the verge of imploding their roster because of lackluster performance. Though Miller hasn’t been one of the named names, there are reports of whispers. He’s performing poorly by many analytical measures.

I believe that his 2023-24 and 2024-25 underperformance have plenty to do with Peter Laviolette’s implementation of a 1-3-1 neutral zone system. I can’t say it’s been as rigid this season, but I cannot describe how perfect of a fit K’Andre Miller would be for Dean Evason.

I was watching Buffalo, doing a little scouting of potential forward targets, and off the screan leapt this wonderful activation from K’Andre Miller.

I will admit that some of his analytics and heatmaps give me pause but if this 2025 RFA is available, I would be highly dissapointed if CBJ let another team took it as truth and let someone else beat their offer.

Owen Power

Like NYR, Buffalo feel like a team that are on the cusp of doing something desperate. They have too much roster and financial capital tied up in left-handed defensemen who all do some of the same things. Power is currently on the first year of his 8 year x $8.35 million deal.

I highly doubt they make their recent 1st overall defenseman available for any price but they might have to do something to carve out some flexibility and spend capital elsewhere. The question, then, is do the Blue Jackets want to give up what they’d ask for? If anything, it would most certainly include Boone Jenner.

The problem with Owen Power, at least relative to roster fits, is that he doesn’t do many of the things the Blue Jackets need and he makes a lot of money. With Werenski, Power and Mateychuk on the roster, the Blue Jackets might run into a similar problem as Buffalo.

Given how good Quinn Hughes has looked with Filip Hronek, and the potential for astronomical cap growth, I think adding this player to the roster and forming a Werenski-Power duo could be highly interesting. Power is huge, has the skating and sense to be a great neutral zone defender and is geared toward playmaking which projects as an excellent skillset to allow Werenski to get up ice. With Fabbro and Severson on the roster, and Denton Mateychuk and Charlie Elick on the way, perhaps there’s a low-cost window that lets the Blue Jackets have a formidable corps before having to make hard choices.

I would also imagine that another team more willing to pony up the resources to add this player but the Blue Jackets should at the very least be in on it.

Breakout Candidates

These young defensemen are players who I project to have potentially significant potential to fit within the Blue Jackets’ window. They aren’t going to be easy to pry from their respective teams rosters but could take dramatic steps under Evason’s aggressive system.

For the most part, they are young players who are all right handed and could be had for less than the Jiricek haul and be used to shore up the window earlier than he potentially could.

Kaeden Korczak

Kaesen Korczak is an interesting young defenseman with size (6’4”) and fluid skating who really popped on the AllThreeZones data from last season. He plays on a Vegas squad that has all of the insulation he could need, but I found his tape very complimentary.

What’s important for Korczak is his capacity to defend the rush in the neutral zone. His footwork is very good and he uses his length very well. I am not sure if his retrievals and puck moving will translate immediately but he’s just 23 (will turn 24 in January).

Korczak, #6 in White, kills two rush chances on his first shift of the game. He shows how fluid his skating is and uses a very present and responsive stick to eliminate the threats.

On his second shift, he kills more transition with good skating and a good stick. Something I really liked was a sequence of his in-zone defending when the puck went to an unmarked player along the boards.

Instead of immediately taking a straight line to the puck carrier, Korczak shoulder checks, takes a beat and puts his stick in the passing lane of the immediate threat. He stays patient in slot protection before leaving his disciplined position to fight for the loose puck.

This is likely part of the Vegas defensive system but it’s something that the Blue Jackets don’t display very often. For that reason, he could have a great background and develop into a solid defenseman with an awareness that would help the Blue Jackets.

For the most part, he’s a quiet player who moves pucks at the right time and gets his point shots on net. Largely, that means he might be a good Fabbro replacing style quiet defender. Then, you get shifts like this (or the second half of this shift) that scream untapped activation potential. He circles the net to create space, carries the puck himself, passses through a layer in the neutral zone and finds the middle of the ice for a very dangerous rush shooting chance.

I have no idea what he would cost as one of the rare developed by Vegas prospects but they seem to be willing to deal if you offer them something of value.

If you’d like to get into the weeds, here’s all of his shifts from that game against Toronto.

Jordan Spence

Jordan Spence has been an under-the-radar favorite of mine for years. He’s right handed, does some fascinating and smart stuff with the puck but is undersized and has been buried by the LA Kings underneath prospects like Brock Faber but also Sean Walker, Matt Roy, Drew Doughty and now Brandt Clarke. With Doughty’s injury came opportunity but the Kings have moved Gavrikov up with Anderson and given Clarke the rest of the important minutes.

He’s been the last-back retriever in the 1-3-1 but there’s room to believe he could flourish in a system that asks more of him.

It’s hard to take the true neutral defending numbers too specifically but I’d be thrilled to add a defenseman of his playmaking acumen to the roster. With Jiricek out, it might finally make sense for the Blue Jackets to add a talented young player to the to their roster with potential to work him up.

This isn’t to say that he is an offensive oriented only defender, Daryl Belfry believes he has plenty of the skills that represent excellent transition defending. He’s good at using contact and playing above his size. With this kind of 1 on 1 skill, there’s no reason he couldn’t be a new and improved Nick Blankenburg.

Michael Kesselring

Michael Kesslring is perhaps the first of many rangy defenders coming from former Arizona Coyotes draft picks. Though I don’t have data for his 2024-25 season with the Utah Coytoes, it looks like he’s taken a step forward as an all-situations right handed defenseman.

You love the active profile and though it’s not a perfect with with his neutral zone defending, he’s big and can skate and make plays. It’s not easy to see why Utah would move on from a young defender like this but they already have John Marino and Sean Durzi on the roster and Maveric Lamoureux, Dmitri Simashev in the pipeline.

Long Shots

Each of these players are favorites of their current club and barring some unforeseen circumstances will remain that way. Still, it’s worthwhile to survey the market and understand who might be out there that can make a difference. The Blue Jackets have high picks and could be feeling frisky with them, perhaps that can shake an upcoming star loose.

Alex Vlasic

I spent plenty of time giving Alex Vlasic props in the breakdown after his most recent game against the Blue Jackets. I don’t think he’s as talented of a stopper as K’Andre Miller but his contract is sublime (6 years x $4.6 million) and he is a very fun, very tall defenseman.

Love his retrievals into breakouts and activation.

Similarly love his skating and rush defending.

Kaiden Guhle

Kaiden Guhle is second only to Lane Hutson as a Montreal golden child. He’s a violent defenseman who projects to be one of the premier stoppers and crease-clearers while having enough juice and desire to get up into plays.

Montreal is a young team with plenty of road to go, perhaps the Blue Jackets can get involved and pry something loose. Hard to see them letting him go given his recent extension for 6 years at $5.5 million AAV but never say never I guess.

Maveric Lamoureux

Maveric Lamoureux is perhaps the most recent of the new wave of really tall, really rangey but skinny defensemen. He’s had some success early in the NHL with Utah but was also partnered with Denton Mateychuk to rave reviews at the most recent WJC20 tournament with an ultimately dissapointing Team Canada.

He’s probably the least likely to move of Utah’s future defense corps but you never know how many players are going to stick through the waxing phase of a competitive cycle.

Prospects

Seamus Casey

Seamus Casey is a recent Michigan graduate who was dropped into the NHL with a bang. He was outcompeting Simon Nemec but both have since been sent to the AHL. If you return to the Denton Mateychuk AHL production numbers, you’ll notice him present atop the list (along with some Jordan Spence for good measure).

He’s very intelligent, very skilled and would be a fascinating puck-moving add to the CBJ group. New Jersey already has Brett Pesce, Dougie Hamilton, Johnathan Kovacevic and Simon Nemec on the depth chart ahead of him. Likely one will be moved to create space for Nemec who was killer late last season but it’s hard to see Casey finding space.

Where Casey doesn’t work for the Blue Jackets is on the defensive side, especially with respect to last back 1 on 1 defending. His Entry Prevention numbers aren’t stellar. This would be a strong bet that his puck moving skill can carry the weight of his defense similar to Filip Hronek with Quinn Hughes. Perhaps just too much overlap with Denton Mateychuk (without the standout neutral zone defending though NCAA is a different beast) but he’s a smart player and I wouldn’t put it past him to develop the requisite skills.

Beau Akey

Beau Akey is a sublime skater who, unfortunately, missed the majority of last season with a major injury. He’s one of the few prospects in the Edmonton Oilers system and is currently included on the Team Canada WJC20 tryout roster. If he makes the team, perhaps that becomes appointment viewing.

I include him on this list primarily because of his capacity to defend the rush. His draft year footwork was unimpeachable and though his size leaves something to be desired, I don’t see why he can’t develop into the type of complementary player perfect for good performance on an ELC next to Zach Werenski. It’s a big task but he’s got the tools to be a Mikey Anderson type.

Production isn’t a fantastic way to evaluate defensemen, and I’ll certainly be interested when Mitch Brown shares the tracking data, but he’s currently performing at the same points pace as his draft year. Perhaps that’s some adjustment from the long layoff

In-House

Daemon Hunt

I have, frankly, little information on Daemon Hunt. According to the Wild, he was basically NHL ready. He’s a supposedly powerful skater who Dean Evason described as “steady”. His draft year data looked much better than his most recent season CHL season shared above. He played with Denton Mateychuk in Moose Jaw and he’s left handed. For my money, he sounds like a bit more athletically oriented version of the depth defenseman we just received in Jordan Harris.

Charlie Elick

According to some reports, Charlie Elick’s stature on the blue line was a big reason the Blue Jackets felt prepared to move on from David Jiricek. I think that would be foolish but it’s easy to see why Waddell would like this player. He’s an excellent and powerful backward skater and he’s got a lot of the recipe to be a Werenski or Mateychuk complement.

That said, there’s very real tools concerns with his puck handling at the moment. If he can improve that skill a bit, he’s got the gumption, violence and mindset to be a shutdown defenceman. If we’re back to comparing to Tampa’s Stanley Cup team, there’s no reason he couldn’t be an Erik Cernak.

Stanislav Svozil

Stanislav Svozil was a fascinating watch with Bedard in his D+1. In his draft year, he was a Czech pro-league defenseman who was known for his good rush footwork and play killing. With Bedard, and with Jiricek at the WJC20, his manipulation, deception and playmaking too center stage.

He’s a really smart player. Where he ultimately lands with the Blue Jackets remains to be seen. He could very much become a top four defenseman given time but the Blue Jackets won’t have much roster space with the recent addition of Mateychuk and depth pieces like Christiansen, Harris and now Daemon Hunt. Perhaps then he just becomes a trade piece to get one of the above.

Luca Marrelli

Luca Marrelli is off to a torrid scoring start with the Oshawa Generals putting up 35 points in 27 games good for an 88 in 68 games pace, well up from his 57 in 67 from last season. That puts him currently 2nd in total OHL points by a defenseman and 3rd by PPG pace behind Sam Dickinson and Zayne Parekh on pace and ahead of Matthew Schaefer who looks like a lock for a top 5 pick.

Luca Marrelli is a high-activity defenceman, jumping into every play and locking down every attacker who enters his space. Knees bent and stick sheathed, ready to land a pokecheck, he backtracks against the rush, waiting for the right moment to launch himself at opponents

EPRinkside’s scouting report sounds a lot like a solid defenseman who can be a good complement but not necessarily one with standout offensive skills. When I watched him in development camp he looked like a smart player who did the right things and the right time. Sometimes these types of players simply translate up because of their flexibility and intelligence but other times they can’t carve out NHL roles because NHL coaches want a skillset and identity to hang their hat on.

Luckily for the Blue Jackets, they have plenty of time to determine the jump in production.