These days, a Philadelphia Flyers trade is always on the table. Management has made it clear that they are open to any and all moves that will help the team improve now or in the future. You know, a “hockey trade”. One of those hockey trades could come in the form of top Columbus Blue Jackets prospect David Jiricek, who appears to be getting pushed out of the NHL lineup for the second season in a row.
Some Flyers fans might recognize Jiricek as the player selected immediately after Cutter Gauthier, whom the Flyers drafted fifth overall in the 2022 draft.
After two seasons, though, the 20-year-old former No. 6 overall pick is taking a bit longer than expected to establish himself as an NHL regular.
Jiricek has played a total of 52 games in parts of three NHL seasons, compiling one goal, 10 assists, and 11 points in that timeframe. He’s also playing under a new head coach (again) and a new general manager.
Now that the Blue Jackets claimed Dante Fabbro, another right-hand shot, on waivers, Jiricek’s future in Columbus is uncertain, to say the least. That’s how NHL insider Elliotte Friedman sees it, anyway.
“The one thing you’re watching for now in Columbus is Jiricek. The relationship between Jiricek and the Blue Jackets has been up-and-down,” Friedman said on his “32 Thoughts” podcast. “Remember, last year he was disappointed and they had to work with him to sort it out. I think he only played nine minutes the other night in their game against the Kings, and it’ll be interesting.
“They’re (Fabbro and Jiricek) both right-hand shots. Does this push Jiricek up the lineup or does this push Jiricek down the lineup? I don’t think Don Waddell necessarily thinks like this, but he’s a new GM, so he wouldn’t have the same attachment to Jiricek like Jarmo Kekalainen would have. What does that mean for a player there?”
Why a Flyers trade makes sense
In terms of projectable young, right-shot defensemen, the Flyers are pretty short in that category.
The Flyers traded Ronnie Attard away a few weeks ago, before his injury, Jamie Drysdale hadn’t shown many signs of improvement.
That leaves Oliver Bonk and Spencer Gill, who are both younger than Jiricek and will almost assuredly require a year of seasoning before jumping to the NHL. Jiricek, despite being in and out of the lineup, already has some NHL experience.
“The creativity with the puck and the shot are both really high-end,” an Eastern Conference executive told EliteProspects about Jiricek in 2022. “I don’t know if he defends well enough to be a top pairing defenseman, but he’s still the best defenseman in this class.”
Jiricek played just 9:15 and 8:50, respectively, in his last two NHL games, and as Friedman noted above, that was already a problem last season. It certainly seems as though the Blue Jackets are in the danger zone in this regard, similarly to the Flyers and Gauthier last year.
The Flyers have six picks in the first two rounds of the upcoming 2025 draft in addition to other known commodities that could be made available via trade. Everybody has a price, and if the Blue Jackets want to get a high-value asset or a specific player in a trade for Jiricek, the Flyers make plenty of sense as a trade partner.
As for the Flyers, Jiricek would give them a backup plan for Drysdale who could also turn out to be a better player than Drysdale at the end of the day. At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, Jiricek would give the Flyers a profile they don’t have much of on defense aside from the older veterans, like Nick Seeler, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Erik Johnson.
On paper, a Flyers trade with the Blue Jackets for Jiricek could make perfect sense for both sides, depending on what Columbus’ intentions are moving forward.
