By Justin Wiggins -
January 20, 2025: Section 330, Row 13 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
It was a matinee game for the Minnesota Wild on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and they were visiting their heated rivals in the Mile High City.
Row 13 in the upper deck at Ball Arena is way up there, but I was fortunate enough to score a last-minute ticket to go watch the Wild beat up on the Colorado Avalanche in front of a packed house.
As I settled into my seat just before puck drop, I was excited to watch Marc-Andre Fleury in person for most likely my final time. But halfway through the first period, my eyes became glued to a young, tall, rangy defenseman in white. It was the Wild’s first power play of the game, and David Jiříček received a one-timer opportunity from the left circle, a spot Alex Ovechkin has made famous over his career.
He wound up, his stick nearly tickling the rafters among the litany of retired maroon and white jerseys, and unleashed a slap shot that missed the net entirely but rattled the glass beyond the net with a sound not typically heard in an NHL arena.
It was just different.
Jiříček played the game of his young career that night, helping lead the Wild to a 3-1 victory over their divisional rival. That sort of game-breaking talent is why the young Czechian defender lands at No. 4 on our Wild prospect rankings this year.
It’s also why Jiříček is unquestionably the biggest wild card on Minnesota's roster entering the 2025-26 season. Sure, there are tantalizing other options, such as fellow prospect Danila Yurov’s potential to stick at center in the NHL. Still, nobody’s range of outcomes varies more than Jiříček's this season.
Jiříček arrived in Minnesota early last season in a blockbuster deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets. General Manager Bill Guerin traded a first, second, third, and fourth round picks, plus prospect Daemon Hunt, to obtain the 6-foot-4 Jiricek. The response was a mixed bag, with everyone acknowledging his offensive talent, but some tempering their enthusiasm for his potential, mostly due to his poor skating.
Due to injuries on the blue line, Jiricek was pressed into action for six games in January. In those six games, he recorded one goal and two assists, but they sent him back to Iowa immediately after his best game in Colorado.
We never saw him again in Minnesota. Jiříček lacerated his spleen playing in Iowa in March and missed the rest of the season.
You’d think having this highlight as the last memory of you to the fan base would have culminated in palpable buzz heading into this season.
For a player the Wild traded so much for, it’s odd how much concern there is about whether he will be a full-time NHLer this year. The offense is obvious, but his skating could be a problem for him to defend consistently at the NHL level. Plus, the emergence of offensive dynamo Zeev Buium on the blue line could make it difficult for Jiricek to play up in the lineup.
To all of that, I say, who cares?
Ultimately, Bill Guerin and the Wild married themselves to Jiříček for at least the short term. You can’t give up the amount of capital they did and not play the young defender. What that looks like is anyone’s guess. Jiříček is Minnesota's biggest wild card heading into the season because he's so volatile.
Let’s first dive into what an excellent season for Jiříček looks like.
At his best, the former 6th overall pick creates offense at an elite level and can provide juice on the power play. It's not just his shot. Jiricek has a unique knack for stepping into voids on the power play when needed, something many defenders struggle with.
He’s also no slouch defensively when he is playing smartly to his strengths. Jiříček has acknowledged that he needs to improve at his transitional skating so he can establish better gaps through the neutral zone through his own end.
But when the 6-foot-4 defenseman can get himself into position to close gaps with his long reach, he’s an underrated defender. Jiříček can step up to oncoming forwards and squeeze them into less desirable spots on the ice. Once there, his size and strength cause issues. He can disrupt plays and get possession of loose pucks.
At his worst, Jiricek can be a liability among the blue line group, although I argue it’s not as devastating as others make it out to be. If he can’t create offense, it will undoubtedly magnify those mistakes.
When Kirill Kaprizov turns the puck over at the offensive blue line, we all give him a pass because what he brings to the team far outweighs his mistakes. Jiříček cannot afford such leeway if he does not provide offense immediately this season.
There lies the flip side of what a great season looks like. If Jiříček can’t provide offense immediately, his spot in the lineup will be in jeopardy. It will be another season of the Wild brass not really knowing what they have in him.
It’s why the Wild need to truly embrace the wild card that is Jiricek this season. If their goal is for him to be a well-rounded defenseman this year, then many folks at the Xce-- er, I mean, Grand Casino Center -- will be left disappointed.
They can’t look at the assets they traded away and desire him to be a 20-minute-per-night type of player at both ends. Will that come with time? Maybe. But it’s also completely fine for Jiříček to be a special teams ace and provide 10 to 15 goals per season from the blue line. There is still considerable value in that.
But they won’t know unless they embrace the current negatives in Jiříček’s game. They have to give him the runway to establish his niche on this team. He doesn’t have to be a top-4 defenseman for the Wild to succeed this year. However, it will be a failure if they don’t at least determine if Jiříček has a future in Minnesota.
And from what I’ve seen, it won’t be a failure. Jiříček has a chance to reshape what the Wild’s blue line looks like through their competing window. And I’m betting on that wild card panning out.
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