The Columbus Blue Jackets have seen a lot of changes over the past several seasons. Four different head coaches, two general managers, and a lot of shuffling through their roster players as they continue to rebuild in the wake of their last playoff appearance in 2020. The team has been a perennial bottom-quartile team, offloading current talent and acquiring future picks and prospects. One could argue that they’ve bottomed out over the last four seasons. Over that time, they’ve selected in the top six in each NHL Entry Draft. With those picks, they’ve added the players they hope to be cornerstone pieces to their future.
Skilled forward Kent Johnson was fifth overall in 2021; big-bodied defender David Jiricek was sixth overall in 2022; future number one center Adam Fantilli was third overall in 2023; and power forward Cayden Lindstrom was fourth in 2024. There is certainly potential for all of those players to make a big difference in the best hockey league in the world. However, there seems to be trouble in the developmental pathway for Jiricek. It could be enough to force a divorce between the 22-year-old and the organization.
How Jiricek and Columbus Have Gotten To This Point
Jiricek was lauded as one of the two best defenders available in the 2022 NHL Draft. He was a standout at that year’s World Junior Hockey Championship imposing his will on others with his 6-foot-4 frame. He fell to the Blue Jackets at sixth overall and they brought him over to North America right away. He transitioned to the continent’s pro game well, as almost a point-per-game player in his first American Hockey League (AHL) season. It seemed like he was on track to become a key part of the Blue Jackets’ blue line the next season, but that didn’t end up becoming the case.
Jiricek spent the next season in the proverbial doghouse of head coach Pascal Vincent, who was coaching for results in an attempt to keep his job. He was occasionally scratched, and when he was in the lineup only averaged 14 minutes a night through 43 games. Not the kind of environment a player can develop in. He was again sent down to the AHL and there was some rumbling that he had become unhappy with his opportunity in Columbus. Rumor has it that his aggravation was spurred on because he was sent back to Cleveland after being told by management that he could get an apartment in Columbus – implying he would be a full-time NHLer.
Then, after the firing of general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and Vincent, came the hiring of Don Waddell and Dean Evason and many thought this could be the beginning of a healthier relationship between the two sides. There was a lot of optimism around the organization that Jiricek would get the runway he needed to become the player he’s been projected as.
While Waddell had unclogged the logjam that was the right defense position over the last several seasons, Jiricek was still scratched for a majority of the team’s first 20 games and only averaged 11 minutes during his six games played. To make matters worse, Waddell claimed right-shot defender Dante Fabbro from the Nashville Predators to take the roster spot that seemingly had been reserved for the young Czech. Following that claim, Jiricek has again been sent to the minors and things seem to have come to a head rather imminently with the organization – based on some reporting from Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
Although the main knock on Jiricek is his skating, that’s an easier skill to be worked on with specialty coaches and the potential for him to blossom into a legitimate top pairing defender is still within reach. There is no shortage of teams looking for a recent top-ten draft pick who is a big-bodied and right-shot defender, especially one that seems to be ready to break into the NHL right now. You could make a list 31 teams long of potential suitors for the Blue Jackets’ Jiricek, should they opt to move on from him.
