Following weeks of rumours involving the young former sixth overall pick, whose time in the Czech league before the 2022 NHL draft made him one of the most coveted prospects in hockey, he has finally been moved to Minnesota for a first round pick, a second round pick, a third round pick, a fourth round pick, and prospect Daemon Hunt.
While the picks are the primary part of the package, Daemon Hunt has a lot of potential.
He is a former WHL captain, and has been pushing for a roster spot on the Minnesota Wild at only 22 years old.
In an interview a few weeks ago he showed off his leadership, not complaining about being out of the NHL picture, but rather being happy the team was performing well:
Fans opted to contrast this with Jiricek's handling of his situation in Columbus, where ice time limitations due to roster constraints forced him out of the lineup:
Blue Jackets reporter Mark Schieg responded back concretely, saying that on the inside, Jiricek was nothing but respectful.
Based on the price, many teams were likely close on Jiricek, including, reportedly, the Philadelphia Flyers.
We will see which team ends up winning this trade in a few years, but the player that went sixth overall just two years ago seems like a decent bet for the Wild, whose blueline includes Brock Faber, and the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft Zeev Buium - not a bad future at all.
The Columbus Blue Jackets' GM, Don Waddell released the following statement following the deal:
POLL | ||
4 HOURS AGO | 20 ANSWERS Columbus Blue Jackets Officially Trade Sixth Overall Pick David Jiricek Who do you think won the David Jiricek trade? | ||
G | A | PTS | ||
Michael Bunting | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Kristopher Letang | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
John Carlson | - | 3 | 3 | |
Aleksander Barkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Jesper Bratt | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Cole Caufield | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Pierre-Luc Dubois | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Kevin Fiala | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Anders Lee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Michael Matheson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Artemi Panarin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Taylor Raddysh | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Rasmus Sandin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Nick Suzuki | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Chris Tanev | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Mika Zibanejad | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Adam Fox | - | 2 | 2 | |
Matthew Grzelcyk | - | 2 | 2 | |
Jack Hughes | - | 2 | 2 | |
Roman Josi | - | 2 | 2 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 24 | 18 | 6 | - | 36 | |
Wild | 23 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 34 | |
Devils | 26 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 34 | |
Capitals | 23 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 33 | |
Hurricanes | 23 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 33 | |
Golden Knights | 24 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 33 | |
Panthers | 24 | 14 | 9 | 1 | 29 | |
Kings | 24 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 29 | |
Stars | 22 | 14 | 8 | - | 28 | |
Maple Leafs | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Conference | Cumulative |