ST. PAUL, Minn. — As they say, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
Brock Faber got a great one of new teammate David Jiricek on Monday morning.
“My first impression was definitely, ‘Holy s—, he’s tall,’” Faber said of the 6-foot-4 blueliner, who was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. “He has a long, good stick and a lot of skill for being that big. I haven’t seen many people that big that can move with the puck like that on the blue line.
“Fun to see. Glad he’s on our team.”
If general manager Bill Guerin has his way, he’ll be on Faber’s team on the right side for many years to come. That’s why the Wild boss traded a prospect and four draft picks to Columbus for the 2022 sixth pick on Saturday afternoon.
Jiricek, 21, won’t debut Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks — not with the Wild 5-1-1 in their past seven and the Wild’s defensive pairs of Jake Middleton-Faber, Declan Chisholm–Jared Spurgeon and Jon Merrill–Zach Bogosian playing well.
Most of all, the Wild want to get Jiricek up to speed after having played only 10 games this season — four in the minors. In his NHL games, he averaged 11 minutes, 12 seconds a game, and was scratched another dozen times.
Lookin’ good 😊 pic.twitter.com/kj13uq1tW8
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 2, 2024
As Jiricek admitted Monday, it’s going to take some time to get used to NHL pace again and get accustomed to his new teammates and a “new style of hockey.”
“I’m excited,” Jiricek said. “I heard it’s a hockey state, so that’s the first thing I know. And the second is it’s frickin’ cold out here. I’m excited to be a Wild right now.”
Jiricek was playing with the AHL Cleveland Monsters before the trade, where he scored two goals and an assist in four games. He had just taken a six-hour bus ride to Grand Rapids, Mich., with the team for a game when he got the call Saturday that he was being traded to the Wild after two weeks of talks between Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell and several suitors.
Jiricek spent the night in Grand Rapids, then flew to Minnesota on Sunday. Because of the road trip, most of his belongings are in Columbus and Cleveland. So at some point, probably during the NHL’s holiday break, he’ll head back to Ohio to pack up.
“I need some warm clothes,” he cracked.
Jiricek said it was bittersweet being traded, even though he was clearly in need of — and welcomed — a fresh start.
“I’m still young,” he said. “It was my first and I hope last trade, too. It’s hard, that’s for sure. I just want to be a pro and be hard in practice and in the games too.”
To make Jiricek feel more comfortable, injured Jakub Lauko — Jiricek’s Czech countryman — pulled team services manager Dominic Hennig aside after Saturday’s game and asked if he could meet Hennig at the airport on Sunday so he could welcome his new teammate to Minnesota.
Jiricek, who barely knows Lauko but skated with him about five times in Prague last summer, was excited to see Lauko and have someone to speak Czech with.
On Monday, Jiricek was asked what happened in Columbus — why after such a strong start with Cleveland as a teenager and after being named the top defenseman in the 2023 World Junior Championship, he had such trouble gaining the trust of multiple coaching staffs.
“Sometimes it’s just not a good fit, right?” he said. “That was not up to me. I never want to leave, but it is what it is, and I’m so happy to be here right now.”
David Jiricek has arrived pic.twitter.com/eghZY7CRtH
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 2, 2024
Monday’s practice was a fast-paced, hard-working skate, one with lots of reps because the Wild were without four banged-up players — the injured Jonas Brodin and Lauko, as well as Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson, who were getting treatment but are expected to play Tuesday night.
Notably, standing along the glass watching was Andy Ness, the Wild’s skating instructor. The one area the Wild will hope to help Jiricek improve is his skating, although much of that will need to come in offseason training. It has done players like Marco Rossi wonders sticking around Minnesota and skating in the offseason with Ness and NHLers like Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Faber, Brock Nelson, Anders Lee and James van Riemsdyk.
“It’s a new start,” said Jiricek, who called himself a two-way, 200-foot defenseman. “I’m not the same player, but my style is still the same as it was before the draft year and two years, three years in Columbus. It’s still the same. I’m just gonna keep going.”
“I’m excited, I’ve heard it’s a hockey state”
🗣️ David Jiricek on his first days in Minnesota#mnwild pic.twitter.com/BQMEjPdTJN
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 2, 2024
Jiricek said he noticed right away in practice the confidence the NHL-leading, 16-4-4 Wild are playing with.
“It’s a winning attitude in here right now,” he said. “Guys are buzzing. So I just wanna help as fast as I can.”
When we’ll see Jiricek’s debut is up in the air. A lot could depend on if the Wild sustain another injury.
The Wild are awaiting more information on Brodin, who was walking around the team practice facility extremely gingerly Monday. What that usually means is determining whether his upper-body injury can settle down with medication and treatment or if he’ll need to undergo surgery.
If it’s the latter, Jiricek would likely be thrust into action sooner than later because he was traded for Daemon Hunt, who was the Wild’s first call-up option from Iowa.
“We’ll just keep bringing him along, and hopefully he gets more comfortable each day and gets comfortable quickly,” coach John Hynes said. “He’s good puck-moving defenseman. He’s got a great shot. He has some power-play element to his game. I think probably like any young player, it’s just developing the size, the strength, the skating, the power to be able to defend in certain areas.
“But it’s intriguing because you have a pretty highly talented player that’s a pretty accomplished player before getting here that’s got size and some real good upside. So that’s exciting.”
GO DEEPER
‘It’s an investment’: Wild content with price paid for David Jiricek
(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)
