Following up on a topic we covered here on Saturday, defenseman David Jiricek has been traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Minnesota Wild.
Rumors began circulating that the Los Angeles Kings might be in the running to acquire the former sixth overall draft pick, when SportsNet’s Chris Johnston reported that:[s]us close [him said] that Jiricek boarded a flight to Los Angeles” prior to the Kings’ game against the Ottawa Senators.
Wow. Chris Johnston on SN 590: “A source close to me told me Jiricek boarded a flight to Los Angeles? Could join Ottawa or LAK, most likely Ottawa.
– HandelBrady (@sas11h) November 29, 2024
Immediately after trading for him, Minnesota assigned Jiricek to the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL).
This was nothing more than a paper transaction that gave general manager Bill Guerin time to assess his roster and reduce it to twenty-three players; He later traded Jiricek for forward Travis Boyd, who has spent most of the season with the AHL’s Wild as one of their alternate captains.
Connor Doyle of Hockey News suggested that if the Kings had entered the Jiricek sweepstakes, forward Trevor Moore likely would have been the centerpiece of that trade.
The Columbus-Minnesota trade leaned heavily on a young prospect (Hunt) and a future first-round NHL Entry Draft pick who is protected by the top 5. The Kings have their first-round pick for 2025, and would be more valuable than Minnesota at this point as they sit fourth and second, respectively, in the Western Conference standings.
LA is at a disadvantage when it comes to right-shot defensemen, and has been that way for a while. Their large prospect pool allowed them to move Brock Faber to the Wild in exchange for forward Kevin Fiala and Helge Grans to the Philadelphia Flyers to dump goaltender Cal Petersen and his salary. The Kings chose to make these moves largely in the belief that both Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence would be future building blocks for the organization.
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Gambling on Clarke was a no-brainer, but general manager Rob Blake’s decision to run Spence over Faber has drawn criticism from fans with a pitchfork in one hand and a torch in the other.
In order to make a trade with the Blue Jackets work to get Jiricek (at this point I’m just spinning my wheels, here), Spence would likely have been included in the trade to appease Columbus’ desire to get a younger player/prospect. to build on than twenty-nine year old Moore.
The pitchforks would probably have turned into spears at that point, as fans were furious that the club had to fork out additional capital to rebuild their defensive unit – which at one point again had Faber, who was a finalist for the Calder. Memorial Trophy, last season.
Ultimately, it’s all a moot point. The Kings have neither lost nor gained anything. What this does impact the Kings, however, is whether or not Jiricek is in the Wild’s lineup next Saturday when LA hosts Minnesota for their second of three meetings this season.
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