David Jiříček Seems Unhappy According To An Article From Aaron Portzline Of The Athletic
David Jiříček Seems Unhappy According To An Article From Aaron Portzline Of The Athletic
John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports - David Jiříček Seems Unhappy According To An Article From Aaron Portzline Of The AthleticWhen David Jiříček was drafted in 2022 with the #6 overall pick, people everywhere in Columbus was excited. The future of the blueline was on the way for Columbus, especially when just six picks later they chose young defender Denton Mateychuk as well. Then after the 2023 draft, it all seemed to be falling into place. And then the 2023-24 season went off the rails, quickly. Now it seems if something can go wrong, it will, including the happiness and well-being of players.
Yesterday, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported about the apparent "mishandling" of the young defenseman David Jiříček.
In the article, Portzline says that both GM Jarmo Kekäläinen and Pascal Vincent do not believe he a top-6 defenseman on this Blue Jackets team, and that is the reason why he's been sent back to Cleveland, which is why he hadn't played an NHL game since January 9th. In a recent interview with an Edmonton radio station, Kekäläinen was quoted as saying, "I think that you never want to rush a defenseman in particular. That's probably the hardest position to play as a young man in the NHL, your mistakes get exposed right away, and your weaknesses. He earned his spot on our team. He's been back in Cleveland a couple times this year because if he's not in the lineup, we want him playing."
It's clear from Jiříček's quotes in Portzline's article that he's not happy. Young players want to play and sometimes forget that they're playing in a grown man's league this is true, but does Jiříček have a beef? He's played in 36 games for the CBJ this season. He has 1 goal and 9 points.
Jiříček Quotes
- “I played good hockey in the NHL."
- “I’m an NHL player right now. That’s my opinion, that I should be in the NHL right now."
- “I see guys from the same draft, like Simon Nemec (in New Jersey) and (Kevin) Korchinski (in Chicago) … they get a chance on the power play. They play a ton of minutes in the NHL. Those are different teams, so different situations, but I can compare with them. I just want a chance to play like that.”
- “They told me the last game was not good enough for me,” Jiricek said. “I told them I don’t think so, but that’s your opinion. I was out of the lineup after that. A whole month now, it feels like I haven’t played.”
Portzline also noted that there was concern Jiříček might skip out on reporting to Cleveland, which would've been a catastrophic event for this franchise. How could you mismanage a 20-year-old so badly that they get tired of the ups and downs to the minors and simply quit? Or is it immaturity with Jiříček with him expecting to play? Of course, he expecting to play, he's always one of the first defensemen called up if he's not here already. Oh, and there's the fact that the CBJ front office told him to get a place in Columbus since he was here to stay it seemed.
While I understand that Columbus doesn't want to "ruin" David Jiříček by playing him against guys like Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, you have to take the training wheels off at some point. This is a lost season and has been since it started. There is no reason not to play David Jiříček. Playing Andrew Peeke over him makes no sense.
What the Jackets should do is play Jiříček in Columbus as much as they can, and then closer to when they need to start stacking Cleveland's deck for when they make their AHL playoff run, send him to Cleveland to play some meaningful games. But scratching him, at any time, should not be in the plan.
One last quote from Portzline's article we'll leave you with from HC Pascal Vincent,
“I get it. My daughter wants her own car. She’s 13 years old. It’s the Amazon effect. Everybody wants it now.”
Is David Jiříček being "mishandled" this season? The answer is yes.
Next Up: The Blue Jackets finish up a 5 game road trip in St. Louis against the Blues.
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