John Hynes ‘Jacked’ About Jiříček Future but When Can the Wild Expect it to Start

By Anthony Varriano |

Updated: Feb 1, 2025

Minnesota Wild, David Jiricek — Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin made a bold move and gave up a lot to acquire defenseman David Jiříček early in the season. Columbus selected him sixth overall back in 2022 and got a massive haul for doing so.

The Wild sent Daemon Hunt to the Blue Jackets along with their first-round pick in 2025, third- and fourth-round picks in 2026, and a second-rounder in 2027. Minnesota did get a fifth-rounder in this year’s draft in return, but Jiříček has seen minimal ice time with the Minnesota Wild this season.

Jiříček’s cup of coffee with the Minnesota Wild

In six games with the Wild back in early January, David Jiříček skated 13 minutes per game, gave the puck away 11 times and blocked four shots. He averaged two shots attempted per game with four getting on goal. He scored once and added an assist. But his time with the Minnesota Wild was indicative of the work yet to be done.

According to Joe Smith of The Athletic, Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes is “jacked” about Jiříček’s future. But that future only starts when Jiříček can do all the things the Minnesota Wild need from their defensemen in order to win games. He’s already doing some of them.

#mnwild coach John Hynes is “jacked” about the future for young defenseman David Jiricek. We got to learn a lot more about him in our latest @FOTRshow pod. From his path, his off-ice life, time in Columbus and his game https://t.co/N4UNVzpJoc
Podcast: https://t.co/VVUlKFrDvd
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) February 1, 2025

What David Jiříček brings the Wild right now

Given his bomb of a right shot, Jiříček’s offense should mostly take care of itself. His AHL shooting percentage is 8.7 percent this season, and Carson Lambos shoots it at 10.3 percent. The Wild want to see slight improvement there since Jiříček ranks 57th amongst AHL defensemen, but it’s not going to keep them from calling him up to the Minnesota Wild roster.

The Wild rely on their defensemen to block a lot of shots. Minnesota ranks eighth in the league with 756 shots blocked. Jiříček averaged less than one per game in his short stint with Minnesota, and his career average over 59 NHL games is exactly one blocked shot per game. That’s about what you’d expect given his time on ice and opposing line faced. Jiříček’s six-foot-four frame should also help when facing a higher volume of shots. Speaking of shots…

What the Minnesota Wild need to see from Jiříček

The giveaways are priority number one for Jiříček. According to Moneypuck, the Minnesota Wild rank seventh in defensive zone giveaways and first in percentage of giveaways coming in the defensive zone (44.41 percent). Those mistakes often result in high-danger chances and power plays. When Jiříček improves his puck possession skills, it’ll create more offensive opportunities for him and likely limit penalties taken.

David Jiříček is a relatively disciplined defender. He took just one penalty over those six games with the Wild, but he’s averaging 0.68 penalty minutes per game with AHL Iowa. That’s almost double the time Carson Lambos spends in the box per game (0.37). Penalties are often acts of desperation, so when Jiříček’s giveaways decline, so should his penalty minutes.

So when can fans of the Minnesota Wild expect a return on the massive investment in Jiříček? I wouldn’t bet on it being this season unless there’s an injury to a right-side defender. But if the Wild fall out of the playoff hunt while Kirill Kaprizov is out, I wouldn’t be surprised if they dangle Zach Bogosian at the trade deadline if they feel Jiříček is ready.