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By Chris Schad -
One year ago, David Jiricek was the Minnesota Wild’s blockbuster addition. The Wild acquired the sixth overall pick in the 2022 draft in a massive trade that sent Daemon Hunt, a 2025 first-round pick, 2026 third and fourth-round picks, and a 2027 second-round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Jiricek’s cost, draft capital, and 6-foot-4, 204-pound frame made it easy to envision that he would be a staple of Minnesota’s blue line for years to come. But life comes at you fast in the NHL, and it may have given the 22-year-old whiplash when the Wild pulled another blockbuster trade for Quinn Hughes last month.
A former Norris Trophy winner, it hasn’t taken Hughes long to get acclimated after he arrived from the Vancouver Canucks. But his presence has a ripple effect throughout the organization, and it could impact Jiricek’s future.
He could “get Ohgrenned.”
“Ohgrenned” is a reference to former Wild winger Liam Ohgren's situation. At this time one year ago, Ohgren was one of the players, along with Jiricek, who formed one of hockey's best farm systems. That group, which included Zeev Buium, Jesper Wallstedt, and Danila Yurov, was supposed to establish roots in the NHL this season. While that trio was able to do it, Ohgren couldn’t take advantage of his opportunity.
Coaching staff don’t have a vendetta against players that fans sometimes believe, but it felt like the Wild liked but didn’t love Ohgren. Despite showing up to camp in great shape, he didn’t show much in the preseason and lost his job to Marcus Johansson, a 35-year-old winger playing on a veteran minimum contract.
With no points in 18 games with the Wild this season, it felt like Ohgren was going from promising prospect to an afterthought in Minnesota. That was confirmed when he was part of a package that included Marco Rossi, Buium, and a 2026 first-round pick to acquire Hughes on Dec. 13 and may have foreshadowed Jiricek’s future with the team.
Like Ohgren, Jiricek hasn’t been able to show he can stick in the NHL. In just over a full calendar year with the Wild, Jiricek has played 24 games, recording a goal and an assist and logging a plus-3 rating. Jiricek showed an ability to create offense earlier in the season, but his game isn’t at a level that can help a team that believes its championship window is right now.
While Ohgren is one example, Buium is another. At 20 years old, Buium had a solid start with three goals and 14 points in 31 games with the Wild. But like most young players, he was inconsistent, which led the Wild to pursue Hughes as an immediate upgrade to compete with the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche.
Nobody can argue with the results, as the Wild are 7-1-2 since Hughes arrived in Minnesota. The deal to bring him here, along with last year’s trade for Jiricek, depleted Bill Guerin’s war chest to make another deal. It also may have put the writing on the wall for last year’s prized acquisition, especially if Hughes re-signs next summer.
It’s impossible to know what Hughes is going to do when it’s time to sign a new contract. Playing for the New Jersey Devils with his brothers, Jack and Luke, has to be appealing. He could also return to Michigan to play for the Detroit Red Wings after playing at the University of Michigan.
Both were realistic scenarios before the Canucks traded Hughes to Minnesota. Still, the Wild have the ace up their sleeve: they can exclusively offer an eight-year contract with front-loaded pay and unlimited signing bonuses before the new collective bargaining agreement kicks in next fall.
Even if that results in Hughes signing a shorter-term deal to potentially hit the market with Jack after the 2029-30 season or Luke after the 2031-32 season, it still creates a short-term problem that Jiricek may not be able to overcome.
The Wild have paired Hughes with Brock Faber, and it has the potential to be their top pairing for the next decade. Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon have slid down to the second pairing, but are still producing in their 30s. They've also signed Jake Middleton through the 2028-29 season, clogging another roster spot, and Jiricek’s best hope may be to grab that final spot sometime in the next two seasons.
Even with the possibility that Brodin and Spurgeon will age out, it’s an uphill climb. Zach Bogosian is Minnesota's sixth defenseman. At 35 years old, it wouldn’t be surprising for the Wild to move on when he becomes a free agent this summer.
But like Johansson, Bogosian is considered a staple of locker-room culture, to the point that Buium chose No. 24 to honor his former teammate when the Wild traded him to Vancouver. Michael Russo also noted in The Athletic that Minnesota could re-sign Bogosian, which would essentially lock in the top six for the next season or two, depending on the length of the extension.
This seemingly puts Jiricek in the seventh defenseman role. Still, he’d also have to compete for that spot with Hunt, who, despite being traded for Jiricek a year ago, has been able to stay ahead of him in the pecking order.
The Wild could wait a few years and see how things play out. But the Hughes trade also showed that they’re willing to mortgage the future to help this team compete for a championship in the short term.
If Steven Stamkos, Ryan O'Reilly, or even Sidney Crosby become available in the next two months, Jiricek would be the best trade chip the Wild has to get a deal done. They have no picks until the third round of the 2026 draft, and they already traded their 2027 second-rounder to Columbus for Jiricek.
This may make the Jiricek trade seem like a waste of resources unless the Wild gets a valuable short-term piece back in return. But nobody is arguing with what it took to get Hughes right now, even with his contract status hanging over the franchise entering next summer.
In the end, Ohgren may be the best example of how the Wild is viewing their roster strategy right now. It could also mean Jiricek's time in Minnesota ends much differently than fans envisioned a year ago.
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