Article: When Will It Start To Click For David Jiricek?

[Tom Schreier]

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[Citizen Strife]

Guerin dumped Chisholm and Merrill and went to say, "Our D is set.". They gave a PTO to Johnson.  Bogo plays yes, but who has gotten in the games as soon as he got injured?  Not Hunt.  They are going to play Jiricek come hell or high water.  He definitely tries hard, which is way more than Addison ever did.

I am not worried about him.  He's getting his reps, and isn't a complete dumpster fire as was feared.  Joke's on Columbus I suppose.

Spurgeon's got 1-2 years left, and may retire. Barring some crazy move, it is Jiricek's spot to lose.

Edited yesterday at 03:38 PM by Citizen Strife

[greg]

I agree.  Must play Jiricek full time no matter the results.  It's looking very questionable as to the team making the playoffs this season.  Play him.  Let him learn from mistakes.  The team and especially Jiricek benefit nothing by having him be healthy scratches.  Besides many of our veterans continue to play uninspired hockey.  They make mistakes and appear not to be trying.  Everyone just says too bad.  When a rookie or young player makes the same mistakes hes banished to the press box healthy scratches.  Seems an odd way to build a contending hockey team.

 

[mnfaninnc]

I disagree with Greg a bit on the healthy scratches. My hope is that while sitting with Goligoski, he pointed out things on Spurgeon's shifts all night long. Taking him out to watch from above every now and then isn't a bad thing. However, giving him a string of 5 sits in the Prossbox is not productive. 

Even though Jiricek was drafted 6 overall, he is a large body and those guys take longer to develop especially with their skating. I am convinced that he has always pinched a lot at the blue line and been good enough not to have that get him. He can't now and must unlearn that tendency and this will take time. 

At first, he just has to notice he should have been moving backward. After that he may come back to the bench after his shift talking to himself to retreat. When that starts happening the coaching has gotten through. Then he will start to do it, not always, but inconsistently until he is able to pick his spots. He needs ice time to get this done, not watching from upstairs, unless he gets pulled once in awhile for another Goligoski teaching session. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

I think the only time Jiricek has been on the ice for a goal against was the one where the Flyers banked it in off the back of Wallstedt's skate from behind the goal. Bogosian had a surgical procedure and is on IR, so I think the Wild will get a whole bunch of minutes from Jiricek the remainder of this season.

"Bogosian suffered the lower-body injury on October 17 after blocking a shot during a game against the Washington Capitals. He was flown back to Minnesota from the team's road trip to undergo the procedure."

Hopefully Jiricek takes the coaching and is in the right places on defense, where he can chip in a little on offense when the puck finds him in his correct defensive assignment rather than him chasing the offensive opportunities.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Everyone select now which player from the 2025 draft you wanted at pick#20 or later, who you believe will be better than Jiricek. Keep that in mind for 4-5 years down the road when that prospect might see NHL ice for the first time.

[Citizen Strife]

Columbus picked a goalie, so unless Wallstedt and Gus completely fall, the Wild won't need those.

Edited 22 hours ago by Citizen Strife

[0 Stanley Cups]

20 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Everyone select now which player from the 2025 draft you wanted at pick#20 or later, who you believe will be better than Jiricek. Keep that in mind for 4-5 years down the road when that prospect might see NHL ice for the first time.

I agree with the upside of the Jiricek trade, except for giving CBJ Hunt and FOUR draft picks.  But I'll accept your challenge, in 2025, William Horcoff (Shawn Horcoff's son) or Mason West (ugh Edina cake-eaters) both 6'5"-6'6" centers, but yes 3-4 years away which is why Jiricek trade was preferred.

[TCMooch]

Jiricek will more than likely never develop into what we want him to be and we got fleeced in that trade. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

8 hours ago, 0 Stanley Cups said:

But I'll accept your challenge, in 2025, William Horcoff (Shawn Horcoff's son) or Mason West (ugh Edina cake-eaters) both 6'5"-6'6" centers, but yes 3-4 years away which is why Jiricek trade was preferred.

Horcoff appears to have some talent.  Looks like he's skating on Michigan's top line with Michael Hage, who was a 1st round C talent from the prior draft.  If Buium wasn't available, Hage is the player I would have wanted the Wild to draft. Both great prospects, but Buium's upside value is very exciting.

No idea what to think about Mason West. He had 10 USHL games last year(1 goal, 8 assists) and no games played in 25-26 so far. Solid high school player, but he seems to be focused on playing QB in football at Edina at the moment. He's an intriguing talent, but late 1st in what was considered a lesser draft. We agree that Edina is not where I would prefer my prospects to come from.

I believe Jiricek could become a very solid 2nd line D man with offensive ability. Horcoff could easily be better than Charlie Stramel, but it will take a few years to find out. I understand there were other picks involved, but if Jiricek develops as the top 10 pick that he was, his impact could be significant. He has experience as the top line RD for Czechia in tournaments where they performed very well, so I think he still has a strong chance to develop.

[Fezig]

I'd like hockey to once and a while copy baseball. The best players on the team will occasionally get a game off to rest their body for a long season. Yes, MLB is 162 games and twice as long as NHL season, but it's not nearly as physically intense. You could have Jiricek play 6 games in a row by giving every blue liner a game off for rest. 

[mnfaninnc]

5 hours ago, Fezig said:

I'd like hockey to once and a while copy baseball.

Why is it that when I look at the Twins draft picks they are almost always taller and thicker than the Wild's? 

You'd think the opposite would be true even if the Twins are sometimes drafting 22 year olds.