St. Louis Blues first-round pick Adam Jiricek may be heading overseas to North America for the 2024-25 season
Adam Jiricek, the St. Louis Blues 16th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft could be coming overseas to play the 2024-25 season.
Andy Strickland, a reporter for Bally Sports Midwest and co-host of the Cam and Strick podcast, sent out a tweet via his X account stating that it appears more and more likely that Jiricek will be playing in the OHL next season.
While nothing is for certain yet, it wouldn’t be shocking to see, as many European prospects come over after being drafted into the NHL. And St. Louis has a rich history of developing their top prospects in the OHL.
The Blues have had core players on their roster like Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas, and Jordan Binnington play out one to two seasons in the OHL — regarded as one of the best developmental hockey leagues in the world — before turning pro.
The Brantford Bulldogs currently hold the rights to Jiricek for the OHL, which is the team Strickland said he is most likely to play for next season.
Jiricek would be moving down from playing against men in the Czech Extraliga League, but he and St. Louis wouldn’t have to worry about him playing limited minutes in a sheltered third-pairing role like he did last season for HC Plzen.
In Brantford, he would get the opportunity to play with NHL-affiliated prospects Marek Vanacker (Chicago 2024 first-rounder), Nick Lardis, Cole Brown, Patrick Thomas, and Owen Protz.
Also, a top prospect for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, Jake O’Brien won the OHL’s Rookie of the Year last season, showing that Brantford’s team does not lack talent.
What they need is a defenseman who can play all situations for them. That’s where Adam Jiricek perfectly fits in.
The Bulldogs team is considerably weaker on their blueline than upfront in their forward core. This means that Jiricek will have the opportunity to play a ton of minutes for them and will most likely see many reps on their top powerplay unit.
If Jiricek’s spot on HC Plzen is in question or the Blues worry that he will see only around 15 minutes a night. Then moving him to the OHL makes sense for his development and allows him to potentially be the Bulldogs’ No. 1 guy on the backend in 2024-25.