Article: What Do Scouts Say About New Wild Defenseman David Jiricek?

[Tony Abbott]

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[PiranhasOnIce]

Interesting how nearly every early scout on this guy had skating as a strength.  Now it's not?

I have only seen the available clips and can't really guage it, but it's not sticking out as a glaring issue.   

I am excited for the transaction.  The Wild need someone who likes to punish on the ice.  Plus, that hammer of a shot.

Get Mr. Ness to work.

[MNCountryLife]

Great backstory to Jiricek. Fun and informative read.  Thanks Tony!

[Citizen Strife]

We've seen the difference between AHL speed and NHL speed.  However, you can counterract that in ways.  Trenin and Foligno aren't fast guys, but they are defensively sound and hit people.  Rossi isn't the fastest center, but always seems to have a knack for clutch points.

I don't think anyone is expecting a Brodin, Spurgeon, Faber, or Buium smooth skater.  They are giving Jiricek a chance to be "different." If he disrupts and plays fearlessly, that can be an ice tilting player.  Those reports tell me he isn't all offense.  It's just a part he can play.  If he has the willingness to use his strengths and hide his weaknesses, he could be a Middleton type, but even younger.  No one accuses Middleton of being the strongest skater or defensive wizard, but look at this guy this year.  He has his place next to a more defense oriented guy and doesn't shit the bed unlike last year.

Jiricek has the size and apparent confidence to be a game changer.  Unless he's Ryan Reaves slow, he should get a leash.

 

[B1GKappa97]

I think the best part of getting him is that, for us, he doesn't HAVE to be that smooth skating defenseman who can keep up with a Connor McDavid or a Connor Bedard like he did for Columbus. We have those players already.

What we don't really have is a blueline bomber since we shipped out Addison for being bad at defense. So, for now, Jiricek can focus on the positive aspects of his game while continuing to work on the weaknesses behind the scenes and, hopefully, during the offseason. 

Honestly reading about his struggles at the NHL level reminds me a LOT of what Marco Rossi went through. And he's turned out pretty okay with a little more experience so far...

[Burnt Toast]

As MNCOUNTRYLIFE stated awesome article….And the evolution of the player continues. Super excited about adding a player already a couple of years from draft without trading players from the present team. 

[Beast]

2 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

We've seen the difference between AHL speed and NHL speed.  However, you can counterract that in ways.  Trenin and Foligno aren't fast guys, but they are defensively sound and hit people.  Rossi isn't the fastest center, but always seems to have a knack for clutch points.

I don't think anyone is expecting a Brodin, Spurgeon, Faber, or Buium smooth skater.  They are giving Jiricek a chance to be "different." If he disrupts and plays fearlessly, that can be an ice tilting player.  Those reports tell me he isn't all offense.  It's just a part he can play.  If he has the willingness to use his strengths and hide his weaknesses, he could be a Middleton type, but even younger.  No one accuses Middleton of being the strongest skater or defensive wizard, but look at this guy this year.  He has his place next to a more defense oriented guy and doesn't shit the bed unlike last year.

Jiricek has the size and apparent confidence to be a game changer.  Unless he's Ryan Reaves slow, he should get a leash.

 

I don’t think it’s necessarily his straight line speed that makes people nervous.  As you said, numerous players can function without high-end straight line speed.  It’s his backwards skating and and ability to move laterally therein to not get blown by. Not being able to get yourself in position as a d man is a big deal and isn’t a function of how fast you can skate from end to end.  It’s not only technique, either.  There’s a minimum athleticism and anticipation requirement.  

Thats just what I’ve read/heard.  I’m not a scout, obviously.

Rossi and Foligno both train their tails off and have more than adequate mobility to defend their position and be solid offensive contributors.  But, it’s a completely different skill set and both would like not be good d men.

Since the Reeves baseline came up, maybe they could find a role for Jiricek as a 4th line enforcer as all else fails (joke).

The more I hear about him, the less I like the price we paid.  It seems like all he really has going for him that can currently translate to the NHL is a bit of size and a bomb of a shot.  I don’t really care about being right shot much if you can’t skate and move the puck.

Worst case scenario, maybe he’s just a middle pairing guy who needs to be paired with a defensive and skating savant like a Brodin to cover his tail while  he unleashes his shot and gets some occasional run on the PP.

[1Brotherbill]

We will see where this guy goes over the next 9 months.  Will he step in and push Merril to the press box or will he go to Iowa and work on some things and play next year in the seven man defensive rotation.  

Next year it is assumed we have Brodin, Spurgeon, Faber, Middleton, Bogo, Buium, Jiricek and possibly Chisholm in the mix.  I would be totally happy with that stable of defenseman.  Before the trade we had Hunt as a maybe and Chisholm as a lock.  Getting Jiricek was an upgrade. 

[Wildfan2k]

Sounds like Guerin better get Faber’s  skating coach working with this “stud”. A lot of draft capital to give away on a “maybe top 4” Dman…hope we have have a “defenseman whisperer” similar to O’Connell and QB’s.

[Jakub K.]

I absolutely love the addition of Jiříček. He's gonna completely transform our blue line, starting next season. The Middleton-Faber pairing is great. Buium and Jiříček are offensively minded D-men who take risks. Well, we've got two elite veteran defensive D-men able to cover for linemates' risky plays in Brodin and Spurgeon. 

Middleton - Faber, Buium - Spurgeon, Brodin - Jiříček, that's one hell of a blue line. With Bogosian or Chisholm on the bench.

On the powerplay,  Buium can step in and quarterback the top unit right now. On the second unit, Jiříček could send clapbombs from the half wall, with Faber or Spurgeon distributing from the blue line.

Yeah, I love it.

[Fezig]

12 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

We've seen the difference between AHL speed and NHL speed.  However, you can counterract that in ways.  Trenin and Foligno aren't fast guys, but they are defensively sound and hit people.  Rossi isn't the fastest center, but always seems to have a knack for clutch points.

I don't think anyone is expecting a Brodin, Spurgeon, Faber, or Buium smooth skater.  They are giving Jiricek a chance to be "different." If he disrupts and plays fearlessly, that can be an ice tilting player.  Those reports tell me he isn't all offense.  It's just a part he can play.  If he has the willingness to use his strengths and hide his weaknesses, he could be a Middleton type, but even younger.  No one accuses Middleton of being the strongest skater or defensive wizard, but look at this guy this year.  He has his place next to a more defense oriented guy and doesn't shit the bed unlike last year.

Jiricek has the size and apparent confidence to be a game changer.  Unless he's Ryan Reaves slow, he should get a leash.

 

Jiricek, Buium, and Faber. That blue line could, repeat, could, be a dominant force for a decade if those three live up to their potential.

[MacGyver]

This can be a side effect of super hype by the scouts up to and after the draft. The danger lies in the player buying into all the hype. Then when things don't pan out like the scouts projected the player can't believe it's on him, that he needs to work on things. It must be the coaches or the team philosophy. Then the scouts start to walk back their hype and point out his weaknesses. Because they don't like to be wrong either. 

Thus Jiriceks comment that he is a NHL player and should not be down in the A. He is not going to be any happier down in the Wild's A than he was with the Columbus A. Perhaps the change of scenery is all he needed. If not he could prove to be uncoachable. One of those players who is always disgruntled about his role, his ice time, I'm not on PP1 and so on.  Maybe Billy got his Laine after all. 🤔

[M_Nels]

11 hours ago, Beast said:

The more I hear about him, the less I like the price we paid.  It seems like all he really has going for him that can currently translate to the NHL is a bit of size and a bomb of a shot.  I don’t really care about being right shot much if you can’t skate and move the puck.

It wasn't that bad of a price though? You could consider Hunt a 1for1 if Jiricek only plays 3rd pair.

The 1st rounder would be in the 20's, 3rd & 4th in 2026 have very little chance of being a fulltime contributor especially in a top 6 role, the 2nd rounder is in 2027. I think it was Judd that said you don't find players like Jiricek in the 20's and Billy said something along the lines of it would've cost a lot more to trade for the 6th pick. I honestly don't think it was an overpay. Russo rumored there was a team offering 2 1st's and there were 4-5 other teams in the hunt as well.

[Pewterschmidt]

2 hours ago, MacGyver said:

This can be a side effect of super hype by the scouts up to and after the draft. The danger lies in the player buying into all the hype. Then when things don't pan out like the scouts projected the player can't believe it's on him, that he needs to work on things. It must be the coaches or the team philosophy. Then the scouts start to walk back their hype and point out his weaknesses. Because they don't like to be wrong either. 

Thus Jiriceks comment that he is a NHL player and should not be down in the A. He is not going to be any happier down in the Wild's A than he was with the Columbus A. Perhaps the change of scenery is all he needed. If not he could prove to be uncoachable. One of those players who is always disgruntled about his role, his ice time, I'm not on PP1 and so on.  Maybe Billy got his Laine after all. 🤔

Yes this is the gamble Guerin made.  
Cam Barker was a third overall, so I’m not going to talk about jirizy being a 10 yr veteran.   Let’s see this guy play.  Based on the reports I’m expecting Klingberg (before he came here).  Offensive minded, not too physical so I’m not expecting pronger, with a big shot (already tired of the clapper hype).  Dumba was great at blasting clapper’s into shin pads.  Let’s see him play already, so the usual suspects don’t go full Ogzy on the hype only to realize this player is at least a couple years away

Edited 5 hours ago by Pewterschmidt

[Pewterschmidt]

39 minutes ago, M_Nels said:

I think it was Judd that said you don't find players like Jiricek in the 20's

Honestly I’m not giving two shits about what Brackett thinks.  Only thing he’s proven is his ability to talk a good game.  His results give me no confidence in his ability to identify talent.  His value add is finding nhl’rs past the top 15 picks and he hasn’t shown the ability to do that at all. 

Edited 5 hours ago by Pewterschmidt

[TheGoosesAreLooses]

I think we have enough defensive stalwarts of our 6 that I think we give a big opportunity to Jiricek. He can be the new (and improved) Dumba; big hits, big shots but has some warts defensively. Stick him with Brodin or Spurg to learn the ways of gaps and stickwork and he will be passable defensively later in his career. 

With the way we are playing now, we were looking at a late 20's 1st anyway. Iowa is already plumb full of prospects to the point where we need some experience down there to help teach the guys. I agree with MnFan that the coaching needs to be looked at down there. We have a ton of raw talent in the AHL that can't seem to put it together.

I hope we can keep Declan at the end of the year. He has really upped his game this year and rounded things out to be a complete player. At only 24 he has a good chance to be part of the future as well. 

Just imagine a blue line 5 years from now that look like;

Buium Faber

Declan Jiricek

We have taken 12 defensemen in the past 4 drafts, (almost all at the 4th round or later) hopefully we can fill the third pairing with some of those picks. 

Future looks bright!😎

[M_Nels]

49 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Honestly I’m not giving two shits about what Brackett thinks.  Only thing he’s proven is his ability to talk a good game.  His results give me no confidence in his ability to identify talent.  His value add is finding nhl’rs past the top 15 picks and he hasn’t shown the ability to do that at all. 

I'm not saying his word is gospel but if the rumors of other teams offers are correct he wasn't the only one who thought that way.

That's the thing about this "competitive rebuild" we haven't had high picks and picks in the 15's-20's usually aren't superstars.

His 1st rounders since he's been here are:

2020: Rossi at #9 (same draft as Khus and Hunt) missed at Lundell unfortunately

2021: Wally at #20, Lambos at #26 (Bankier is a sneaky one here at #86) the only other 1st round stud is Johnston but we needed a G, guess you could say Knies and Stankoven are considered misses

2022: Ohgren at #19, Yurov at #24 (Haight at #47) nobody after them has even played 50 games

2023: Stramel at #21 (non-NHL whipping boy it seems) (Heidt #64) nobody after him has played even 10 games

2024: Buium at #12 only one after him has played 4 games and a 5th rounder that has played 7 for COL

Point is, it's too early to judge his results with the Wild. I suppose I could go back through VAN's drafts but I just did the Wild's. 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by M_Nels
Spelling

[Pewterschmidt]

 

27 minutes ago, M_Nels said:

2020: Rossi at #9 (same draft as Khus and Hunt) missed at Lundell unfortunately

Rossi vs Lundell.  Maybe Lundell could have provided returns earlier and he'll definitley be a better playoff performer (already proven with a Cup) but I like Rossi's trajectory so I'll call this one a push (I'm giving Brackett a pass on this one b/c Guerin has been trying to move Rossi since he got here so Guerin would have preferred Lundell.)

24 minutes ago, M_Nels said:

2022: Ohgren at #19, Yurov at #24 (Haight at #47)

Too soon to tell on this draft

25 minutes ago, M_Nels said:

the only other 1st round stud is Johnston but we needed a G, guess you could say Knies and Stankoven are considered misses

Yes, these are absolutely misses.  Especially if Wally goes full Wall-E.

Thanks for this detail M_Nels.  Would love to see the VAN drafts

 

[M_Nels]

2 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Yes, these are absolutely misses.  Especially if Wally goes full Wall-E.

Thanks for this detail M_Nels.  Would love to see the VAN drafts

This is the thing about the misses is they were both 2nd rounders so many other teams missed as well.

VAN while he was there (slow at work today haha):

Boeser #23 nonetheless

2016 was a big miss it seems, their #5 isn't in the NHL anymore and Tkachuk was the next pick

Pettersson #5

Hughes #7

Hoglander in the 2nd (1st rounder wasn't much)

They had higher picks and got some superstars, Boeser was a huge find at #23. Not sure what happened in 2016, don't follow the Nucks so there may be other circumstances. 

[Pewterschmidt]

17 minutes ago, M_Nels said:

This is the thing about the misses is they were both 2nd rounders so many other teams missed as well.

VAN while he was there (slow at work today haha):

Boeser #23 nonetheless

2016 was a big miss it seems, their #5 isn't in the NHL anymore and Tkachuk was the next pick

Pettersson #5

Hughes #7

Hoglander in the 2nd (1st rounder wasn't much)

They had higher picks and got some superstars, Boeser was a huge find at #23. Not sure what happened in 2016, don't follow the Nucks so there may be other circumstances. 

I'll give him Boesser offset by the 2016 whiff.  I cannot give too much credit for hitting on #5 and #7.   Not much insight required there.  All right now I'm going to look at the VAN drafts.....

[B1GKappa97]

6 hours ago, Jakub K. said:

I absolutely love the addition of Jiříček. He's gonna completely transform our blue line, starting next season. The Middleton-Faber pairing is great. Buium and Jiříček are offensively minded D-men who take risks. Well, we've got two elite veteran defensive D-men able to cover for linemates' risky plays in Brodin and Spurgeon. 

Middleton - Faber, Buium - Spurgeon, Brodin - Jiříček, that's one hell of a blue line. With Bogosian or Chisholm on the bench.

On the powerplay,  Buium can step in and quarterback the top unit right now. On the second unit, Jiříček could send clapbombs from the half wall, with Faber or Spurgeon distributing from the blue line.

Yeah, I love it.

Nailed it. I think this is Billy's vision as well. Spacek probably continues to be slow-cooked down in the A until Spurgy hangs them up and then he takes that roster spot. 

Unfortunately Chisholm is on a one-year deal so I'm not sure we'll see him stick around past this season. Once Buium makes the jump, he's the 7th D at best. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see us trade him off at the TDL tbh. He should net us a solid return, either as part of a package deal or to recoup some of what we give up to make additions. 

[Enforceror]

So our defense is shaping up nicely, we have options/depth.

Would love to address our 2nd line (forwards) but I suppose we'll need to wait for cap space and/or Yurov to come here and meet/exceed his hype. 

As far as Wally goes, I'm not too worried about him. He got the rug ripped out from underneath him this year. I'm wondering if him being recalled from Iowa has something to do with getting him back on track. If so, it's dangerous but could be something we need to do to avoid our next years' goalie getting too far into negative headspace.

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

I'll give him Boesser offset by the 2016 whiff.  I cannot give too much credit for hitting on #5 and #7.   Not much insight required there.  All right now I'm going to look at the VAN drafts.....

Brackett's Vancouver Draft Track Record:

Aside than a #5, #7 overall which an untrained monkey could have picked, are there any steal-of-the-draft's in this Brackett history?

2016

2017

2018

2019

[Jakub K.]

1 hour ago, B1GKappa97 said:

Nailed it. I think this is Billy's vision as well. Spacek probably continues to be slow-cooked down in the A until Spurgy hangs them up and then he takes that roster spot. 

Unfortunately Chisholm is on a one-year deal so I'm not sure we'll see him stick around past this season. Once Buium makes the jump, he's the 7th D at best. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see us trade him off at the TDL tbh. He should net us a solid return, either as part of a package deal or to recoup some of what we give up to make additions. 

I like Chisholm, but I assume Bogo is the 7th D next season because of his NMC. Chisholm probably walks, he's an asset on the ice, I don't think Billy G would trade him away if we're serious about competing this season.

But yeah, I think eventually the right side of our defense is Faber, Jiříček, Špaček. I really like that, and not just because I'm a Czech myself lol. Buium, Middleton and Brodin on the left, with Lambos/O'Rourke in the rotation. Could be a phenomenal 2027/28 D-core.

[Pewterschmidt]

12 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Brackett's Vancouver Draft Track Record:

Aside than a #5, #7 overall which an untrained monkey could have picked, are there any steal-of-the-draft's in this Brackett history?

2016

2017

2018

2019

here's the 2015-2016 VAN draft the year Brackett began as head of scouting