Minnesota Wild Trade 1st Round Pick for Top NHL-Ready Defenseman

By    |  
Updated:
New Minnesota Wild defenseman David Jiricek when he played for the Columbus Blue Jackets
Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Wild are one of the best teams in the NHL, a quarter way through the 2024-25 NHL season, and they are back on the ice Saturday night vs the Nashville Predators, trying to claim their 35th and 36th points of the young season. But that doesn’t mean Bill Guerin isn’t working on the team’s roster construction, both now and in the future.

Minnesota Wild trade 1st round pick for (D) David Jiricek

The Wild’s president of hockey operations proved as much this evening, when he traded away one of Minnesota’s most NHL-ready defense prospects, 22-year-old Daemon Hunt — along with a top 5 protected 2025 1st round pick, 2026 3rd, 2027 4th and 2027 2nd — to the Columbus Blue Jackets, in exchange for Czechian defenseman David Jiricek, a former No. 6 overall pick (2022) who turned 21-years-old on Thanksgiving.

According to Michael Russo (The Athletic), who forecasted this trade a few days ago, Jiricek will start his Minnesota Wild career in Iowa. The longtime NHL insider doesn’t think the NHL’s No. 10 ranked prospect (ESPN) will have to wait long. He predicts two to three weeks.

David Jiricek has not played well so far this season, with the Blue Jackets, but he hasn’t been given opportunities a lot of opportunities either. In a limited 11 minutes of ice time per game (in just 6 games), the No. 10 ranked prospect in the NHL has 1 assist and 0 goals (-2 +/-). The biggest concern with Jiricek seems to be his skating ability.

Minnesota depending on Andy Ness to fix Jiricek’s skating deficiencies

Those inside Minnesota Wild facilities are telling Russo that renowned skating coach Andy Ness can fix whatever issues he seems to have in that department. Clearly, with the haul Guerin gave up in this trade, he is not worried about any deficiencies in David Jiricek’s game.

All teams covet right shots, and Jiricek is a two-way defenseman with a heavy shot who plays hard and will bring much-needed size to a blue line that doesn’t have a ton of it. While mobility has long been his weakness, the Wild believe their skating expert, Andy Ness, could do wonders for him. Jiricek is a decorated junior player with lots of international experience and success.

The Athletic

Last season (2023-24) with the Cleveland Monsters (Blue Jackets AHL affiliate), David Jiricek played 29 games, scoring 7 goals and assisting on 12 more. But he was a -16, when on the ice. The year before (2022-23), he played 55 games in Cleveland. He scored 6 goals and collected 32 assists… and the Monsters went -11 in goal differential, with him on the ice.

Related: Kirill Kaprizov Hart Trophy Odds: Can Minnesota Wild Superstar Win NHL MVP?

The Minnesota Wild need this trade to work out. The cost was not cheap, and this is a guy that pretty much forced his way out of the Blue Jackets organization before ever establishing himself as a legitimate NHLer. And you just traded four draft picks for this dude.

Yes, the Wild need another talented NHL defenseman on the ice ASAP, with Jonas Brodin out. But at face value, David Jiricek can’t hold Brodin’s jock. Adding to the risk, he’s clearly not happy in the AHL anymore. If the Wild don’t call Jiricek up soon, and keep him up, then he’ll probably be just as unhappy here, as he was in Columbus.

Mentioned in this article:

More About: