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Columbus Blue Jackets (Official Thread)

Columbus Blue Jackets deal David Jiricek to Minnesota Wild

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman David Jiricek will get a fresh start with the Minnesota Wild, who acquired the 2022 sixth pick for 22-year-old defenseman Daemon Hunt and draft picks Saturday night.

The Wild sent Hunt, a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL entry draft (top five protected), a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL draft (previously acquired from Colorado), a fourth-round selection in the 2026 NHL entry (previously acquired from Toronto) and second-round pick in the 2027 NHL draft to the Blue Jackets. Columbus also sent a fifth-round selection in the 2025 NHL draft to the Wild along with Jiricek.

If Minnesota's first-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft is one of the first five selections, the Wild will retain the pick and transfer its 2026 first-round selection to the Blue Jackets.

Jiricek, 21, was drafted from Plzen HC in the Czech Extraliga by former Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen. He was the second defenseman taken in the 2022 draft. Jiricek has a coveted skills set -- 6-foot-4, right-handed shot with offensive upside -- but has only played 53 games in the NHL since debuting in the 2022-23 season.

While Jiricek believed he was ready for big minutes and responsibilities in the NHL, three different Blue Jackets coaches and two different front office regimes in Columbus felt he wasn't ready yet, sending the defenseman back to AHL Cleveland for more experience.
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Daemon Hunt: A Look At Who The Blue Jackets Received In The David Jiricek Trade​

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The Columbus Blue Jackets traded David Jiricek to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, ending weeks of speculation that heavily intensified a week ago when Jiricek was sent to the Cleveland Monsters.

In return, the Blue Jackets (who also gave the Wild a fifth-round pick in 2025) picked up four draft picks: a first-rounder in 2025 (top-five protected), third and fourth round picks in 2026, and a second rounder in 2027.

But they also picked up an intriguing prospect from Minnesota to replace Jiricek: Daemon Hunt.

Here's a dive into what the Blue Jackets are getting in Hunt:


The Past:

Hunt was a third-round selection of the Wild in the 2020 NHL Draft, chosen 65th overall. He is a 22-year-old native of Brandon, Maintoba, Canada and is 6'1", 200lbs.

After being an alternate captain for the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL in the 2019-20 season, Hunt was promoted to team captain in both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. In those two seasons (69 games), Hunt scored 25 goals and had 32 assists for 57 points.

In his final season (2021-22) with Moose Jaw, he was teammates with Denton Mateychuk, the Blue Jackets current top defensive prospect. Mateychuk was named the Warriors captain when Hunt left for the Wild organization.

That first season with the Wild (2022-23) was spent with the Iowa Wild, the AHL affiliate of Minnesota. He had just two goals and nine assists in 59 games, but the Wild brass liked his development as a defensive player and his 2023-24 training camp with Minnesota was equally impressive. He didn't make the opening night roster but would play in 12 games in the NHL last season.

Five of those games were early in the season and under Dean Evason, the Blue Jackets head coach who at the time was the Minnesota Wild bench boss. In each of his five games played with Evason, Hunt saw a modest uptick in minutes from the previous game.

Evason was fired in November.

Hunt played in a total of 12 games last season, had one point (an assist), and averaged 11:14 of ice time per game. Most of his action was with Iowa, where he had three goals and 26 assists (29 points) in 51 games.

The Present:

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continued

The Future:

Blue Jackets President of Hockey Ops and General Manager Don Waddell described Hunt as a "very good, young defenseman and we are excited to welcome him to the Blue Jackets family."

He'll be a restricted free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season.

The ceiling on Hunt is probably not as high as it is with Jiricek — but when a first, second, third, and fourth round draft pick come in too, that was not the expectation.

But the key word there is ceiling. Yes, it's entirely possible that Jiricek goes on to be a fantastic blueliner with the Minnesota Wild. But it's also possible (and not too far-fetched of a belief) that his skating and lack of speed catch up with him, and he never does pan out to be the player that the last Blue Jackets regime thought he could be when they took him two years ago.

The current regime certainly didn't seem to see it that way, either.

It could be different with Hunt, though, who has strengths that align to Evason's style of play he demands from his defenseman. In short, that's blueliners who will jump into the play and use their speed to their advantage — but ones that can do so while still having a high-IQ on the ice and know when the right time to do that is.

That's Hunt in a nutshell. His strong two-way game, his physical game, and his good speed are different strengths than Jiricek's are but they all could prove to be more valuable to the organization.

Being reunited with Mateychuk, who was his linemate on the Warriors blue line at times three years ago, will likely bring a boost to both players too.

And that's where Hunt will start — the team has already announced that their new acquisition will report to Cleveland. He'll likely stay there as the Blue Jackets organization figure out specifically how he can fit in with the club, and it would seem that his Blue Jacket debut will likely come later this season, particularly if Columbus in a position to be sellers at the trade deadline and move a player like Ivan Provorov.

From there, Hunt will have the chance to become an everyday, NHL player.

It's no guarantee.

But neither was — or is — Jiricek.

Get To Know Daemon Hunt:

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continued
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0

Columbus Blue Jackets deal David Jiricek to Minnesota Wild

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman David Jiricek will get a fresh start with the Minnesota Wild, who acquired the 2022 sixth pick for 22-year-old defenseman Daemon Hunt and draft picks Saturday night.

The Wild sent Hunt, a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL entry draft (top five protected), a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL draft (previously acquired from Colorado), a fourth-round selection in the 2026 NHL entry (previously acquired from Toronto) and second-round pick in the 2027 NHL draft to the Blue Jackets. Columbus also sent a fifth-round selection in the 2025 NHL draft to the Wild along with Jiricek.

If Minnesota's first-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft is one of the first five selections, the Wild will retain the pick and transfer its 2026 first-round selection to the Blue Jackets.

Jiricek, 21, was drafted from Plzen HC in the Czech Extraliga by former Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen. He was the second defenseman taken in the 2022 draft. Jiricek has a coveted skills set -- 6-foot-4, right-handed shot with offensive upside -- but has only played 53 games in the NHL since debuting in the 2022-23 season.

While Jiricek believed he was ready for big minutes and responsibilities in the NHL, three different Blue Jackets coaches and two different front office regimes in Columbus felt he wasn't ready yet, sending the defenseman back to AHL Cleveland for more experience.
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continued

Daemon Hunt: A Look At Who The Blue Jackets Received In The David Jiricek Trade​

9110_h.jpg


The Columbus Blue Jackets traded David Jiricek to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, ending weeks of speculation that heavily intensified a week ago when Jiricek was sent to the Cleveland Monsters.

In return, the Blue Jackets (who also gave the Wild a fifth-round pick in 2025) picked up four draft picks: a first-rounder in 2025 (top-five protected), third and fourth round picks in 2026, and a second rounder in 2027.

But they also picked up an intriguing prospect from Minnesota to replace Jiricek: Daemon Hunt.

Here's a dive into what the Blue Jackets are getting in Hunt:


The Past:

Hunt was a third-round selection of the Wild in the 2020 NHL Draft, chosen 65th overall. He is a 22-year-old native of Brandon, Maintoba, Canada and is 6'1", 200lbs.

After being an alternate captain for the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL in the 2019-20 season, Hunt was promoted to team captain in both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. In those two seasons (69 games), Hunt scored 25 goals and had 32 assists for 57 points.

In his final season (2021-22) with Moose Jaw, he was teammates with Denton Mateychuk, the Blue Jackets current top defensive prospect. Mateychuk was named the Warriors captain when Hunt left for the Wild organization.

That first season with the Wild (2022-23) was spent with the Iowa Wild, the AHL affiliate of Minnesota. He had just two goals and nine assists in 59 games, but the Wild brass liked his development as a defensive player and his 2023-24 training camp with Minnesota was equally impressive. He didn't make the opening night roster but would play in 12 games in the NHL last season.

Five of those games were early in the season and under Dean Evason, the Blue Jackets head coach who at the time was the Minnesota Wild bench boss. In each of his five games played with Evason, Hunt saw a modest uptick in minutes from the previous game.

Evason was fired in November.

Hunt played in a total of 12 games last season, had one point (an assist), and averaged 11:14 of ice time per game. Most of his action was with Iowa, where he had three goals and 26 assists (29 points) in 51 games.

The Present:

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.
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continued

The Future:

Blue Jackets President of Hockey Ops and General Manager Don Waddell described Hunt as a "very good, young defenseman and we are excited to welcome him to the Blue Jackets family."

He'll be a restricted free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season.

The ceiling on Hunt is probably not as high as it is with Jiricek — but when a first, second, third, and fourth round draft pick come in too, that was not the expectation.

But the key word there is ceiling. Yes, it's entirely possible that Jiricek goes on to be a fantastic blueliner with the Minnesota Wild. But it's also possible (and not too far-fetched of a belief) that his skating and lack of speed catch up with him, and he never does pan out to be the player that the last Blue Jackets regime thought he could be when they took him two years ago.

The current regime certainly didn't seem to see it that way, either.

It could be different with Hunt, though, who has strengths that align to Evason's style of play he demands from his defenseman. In short, that's blueliners who will jump into the play and use their speed to their advantage — but ones that can do so while still having a high-IQ on the ice and know when the right time to do that is.

That's Hunt in a nutshell. His strong two-way game, his physical game, and his good speed are different strengths than Jiricek's are but they all could prove to be more valuable to the organization.

Being reunited with Mateychuk, who was his linemate on the Warriors blue line at times three years ago, will likely bring a boost to both players too.

And that's where Hunt will start — the team has already announced that their new acquisition will report to Cleveland. He'll likely stay there as the Blue Jackets organization figure out specifically how he can fit in with the club, and it would seem that his Blue Jacket debut will likely come later this season, particularly if Columbus in a position to be sellers at the trade deadline and move a player like Ivan Provorov.

From there, Hunt will have the chance to become an everyday, NHL player.

It's no guarantee.

But neither was — or is — Jiricek.

Get To Know Daemon Hunt:

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continued
Good trade.
 
Upvote 0
Good trade.

Yeah, I agree. The Blue jackets have a long history of 1st round draft picks that never lived up to expectations. Jiricek could be another one. Getting a slew of draft picks, i.e. a 1st (2025 or 2026), 2nd (2027), 3rd (2026) and 4th (2026) plus a prospect seems like a win to me.

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Grades and final thoughts

The Blue Jackets receive a high grade for the David Jiricek trade. Columbus received a haul for a player who had fallen out of favor with the organization. Meanwhile, the Wild receive a fine grade for this deal. Minnesota gave up a huge haul for a player who very well could be a star. But it's also within the realm of possibility that this blows up in their face spectacularly.

Columbus Blue Jackets grade: A
Minnesota Wild grade: B


Minnesota’s Grade: A
Columbus’ Grade: B-


Minnesota: B+
Columbus: C+
 
Upvote 0
Good trade for both teams. CBJ are stockpiling a good amount of young talent and are building a robust pipeline. Evason is a good coach, too.

On the other side, it's amazing how well the Wild have done navigating the dead money they've had to deal with the past few years from the Parisi/Suter buyouts. That drops from ~$14MM this year to like $1.6MM next. And they already have a pretty damn solid core. They could be building a pretty stout team, especially if Jiricek can live up to his potential.
 
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