by Following up on a topic we covered here on Saturday, defenseman David Jiricek was traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Minnesota Wild.
Rumors began circulating that the Los Angeles Kings were possibly in the running to acquire the former sixth overall draft pick, when Chris Johnston of SportsNet reported that: “[s]ource close to [him said] that Jiricek took a flight to Los Angeles,” before the Kings’ game against the Ottawa Senators.
Wow. Chris Johnston on SN 590: “A source close to me told me Jiricek took a flight to Los Angeles? I could go to Ottawa or LAK, most likely Ottawa.
– Brady exchange (@sas11h) November 29, 2024
Immediately after trading for him, Minnesota assigned Jiricek to the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL).
It was nothing more than a paper transaction giving general manager Bill Guerin time to evaluate his roster and narrow it down to twenty-three players; later trading Jiricek with forward Travis Boyd who spent most of the season with the AHL Wild as an alternate captain.
Connor Doyle of the 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 trade between Columbus and Minnesota relied heavily on a young prospect (Hunt) and a future first-round NHL draft pick who is top-5 protected. The Kings have their 2025 first-round pick, and at that point, they would be more valuable than Minnesota’s, sitting in fourth and second place, respectively, in the Western Conference standings.
LA is behind with right-handed defenders and has been for some time. Their deep 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 offload goaltender Cal Petersen and his salary. The Kings chose to make these moves largely because they were confident that Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence would be future building blocks of the organization.
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Betting on Clarke was a no-brainer, but general manager Rob Blake’s decision to roll with Spence rather than Faber drew criticism from fans who have 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 likely would have been included in the trade to satiate Columbus’ desire for a player/ younger prospect. to rely on, that Moore, twenty-nine years old.
Pitchforks would likely have turned to spears, by then, with fans furious that the club had to pull in additional capital in order to rebuild its defensive unit – which, again, at one point had Faber, runner-up for the Calder. Memorial Trophy, last season.
Ultimately, this all remains a moot point. The Kings neither lost nor gained anything. However, the impact on the Kings depends on whether Jiricek is in the Wild lineup next Saturday when Los Angeles hosts Minnesota for their second of three meetings this season.
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