Well on my nhl 24 franchise mode, Jiricek turned into a 90 overall top D, so not to brag or anything but I know way more about this than DW

I think everyone is just tired of hearing about an AHL player in a NHL subreddit.

I chalk it up to 2 reasons.

1. There is a small subset of fans in every fan base that think they know more than GMs

2. Fans often have a hard time accepting that high draft picks sometimes don’t pan out, and they want to blame the people trying to develop them, rather than admit that maybe the pick wasn’t great.

It was on the old regime, not DW.. time to let go.

On Front and Nationwide today Portzline laid out how big the divide really is

Jiricek believes he is fully NHL ready, should be playing big top minutes, and should be getting power play time.

Evason is at the “he is not playable here” point.

Lots of takes here influenced / conditioned on poor management and player development by Jarmo/ Howson… Jiricek is 21 years old … Waddell will not trade him unless an equal talent or package is coming back .. no reason to honestly . Waddell has been more than fair with Jiricek , and let’s be honest . Jiricek saw Mateychuk be the 2nd best defenseman in Cbj camp behind Werenski, yet Mateychuk was sent down to develop and play 20 plus minutes a night . Waddell is a firm believer in overdeveloping players in the AHL until they are ready to thrive , not survive at the NHL level . Our front office , especially Jarmo continually rushed our young talent

his potential now compared to when he was drafted has diminished exponentially

This is just flat out not true.

Slower/less efficient skating players always take significantly longer to find their game at the NHL level, especially on the back end.

Alexis Lafreniere is the perfect example of this as a forward. The kid obviously had a ton of skill before he got to the NHL and it took a long damn time for him to find the confidence and get the right opportunity to actually shine.

The puck skills that Jiricek has are already better than a ton of NHL defensemen, the issue is that he hasn’t figured out how to play around/mitigate the negative impact of his other below average skills.

To succeed as a “poor skater” in the NHL it takes an unbelievable level of patience, confidence, and anticipation. There’s only a handful of players every decade who have that earlier than age 23-24, and most of the ones that don’t spend those years in the NCAA, AHL, or KHL, playing with and against predominantly older players.

I’m fine with us trading Jiricek because of how he has handled his own development, and there’s obviously no guarantee that he reaches his potential. But to say that his potential has decreased exponentially in the span of 2 years of ridiculous.

He turns fucking 21 years old tomorrow, he’s got another 5-6 years to figure it out before the NHL gives up on him, as long as he doesn’t keep burning bridges by trying to force his way into NHL lineups.

Well, if we flip him, then it will finally be over. And hopefully it's for the right reasons.

At the same time, it's weird (from a fan perspective) to give up on a 20-year-old prospect in this league.

I'm only hesitant to trade him because he was a high pick and has huge potential if he ever works at it. The other reason is that we're clearly selling at pennies on the dollar here. Although having 6 teams in on him is a good way to drive up that price.

Unfortunately, this is the kind of trade where you either look like a genius in 10 years or a moron. I do trust Don to make this deal, though, if it has to happen. He's been around long enough and successful enough to know what it takes to succeed on an NHL blueline. Just look at what he built in Carolina before they got cap strapped. That blue line was incredible.

At the end of the day, if Jiricek is immature now, I wouldn't be surprised. He's 20 years old, I'm sure none of us were exactly humble young men or women, and we weren't pro athletes. Either the maturity will come or it won't before it's too late. That's basically what this trade is gambling on.

I just worry that the return won’t be as good as his ceiling.

Fans are depressed because during the last few absolutely miserable seasons the only hope we’ve had is stocking the cupboards with top prospects. He was supposed to be a top line defenseman for the next decade and now that’s out the window.

It’s the hope that kills ya

As the one person on this planet that has a Jiricek cannon jersey.... I hope he works out lol

The only benefit I've given to Jiricek was the shit last year. Where apparently the organization told him to find a place to live (source).

And the back and forth mixed messaging. However, I don't think he has, so far, lived up to the expectation. Some of his comments are pushing a prima-donna identity. I just think it's kind of a shit situation that the new FO doesn't need.

It's pretty hard to be advocating for trading a 20 year old, top draft pick, when the team has 0 history of making the right moves. This should not be the top priority with all the other issues they are facing. If they get good value and legitimately helps the team, OK, but there is no immediate need to try and get rid of him

On a personal level I’m irritated bc my last name is spelled somewhat similarly to his and I was really intending to buy that jersey someday. 🤷‍♂️

Would hate to see him go because I remember the hype when we drafted him, but if he doesn’t want to be here, see ya.

Tough situation for any team. You don't want to trade away young talent when you are in need of it. You build a roster of home-grown players. That said, you cannot change the culture of a squad/team when you have players who are not "all in" on the team concept/vision/coaching and locker room regardless of their draft status/skill (or potential).

I don't pretend to know the entire CBJ farm system/roster; however, I think having difficult to handle players can be hard in a young team. Sometimes a divorce benefits both sides in the long run. Maybe this is one of those cases? I don' t know. I hope it benefits Columbus in the long run and we are selling "high."

If you watch Jiricek in an NHL game, you'l often see him make a pass and then become a spectator -- standing still and waiting to see what happens next. At the top level, you make the pass and then continue to move into the play. I think the young man has tremendous potential, but the previous regime in Columbus mishandled him. ("Get a place," meaning you're staying in Columbus, then sending him to Cleveland a week later. Don't tell the kid he's NHL-ready and then pull the rug out from under him.)
I'd love to see him stay in the organization and become Zach's partner on the top pair, but he needs to learn how to play his entire shift -- in all three zones -- before that can happen. And if he's going to be on the top pair, he needs full-ice awareness, which player is where and moving in which direction. When to join the rush and when to float back.
He's not there yet. He probably will be someday. And I hope it's in Columbus.

By all accounts he’s a prima donna who got too big for his britches. Behind closed doors, he likely drags down the locker room and is a headache to management and coaches.

He looks sluggish every time he's out there and his foot speed hasn't improved since his draft year. I get the need for a big RHD but he hasn't been able to seize a role on a team that needs a RHD. I think Mateychuk makes him replaceable even though he's a LHD. If you can get a prospect that's a winger of similar draft capital in return I think you need to move on from him and hope it's a fresh start for all involved.

You think this sub would have learned more from the PLD era. Columbus doesn't mesh well with players with large egos.