The Flyers should resist the urge to trade for Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman David Jiříček

It’s a tradition unlike any other, and no, not the Masters. We’re talking about members of Flyers Twitter scrambling to their keyboards in unison to explain why the Flyers NEED to trade for Player X, who either just became available or has appeared in at least one NHL trade rumor.

Brady Tkachuk, Trevor Zegras, Jakob Chychrun, Nick Robertson, Shane Pinto, Alex DeBrincat, and even Leon Draisaitl are some names that immediately come to mind over the past few seasons when it comes to players earmarked for moves to Philadelphia. These theoretical trades on X (formerly Twitter) usually have the Flyers getting a star player and giving up a depreciated asset or player in return. They also tend to overvalue what the Flyers have in their cupboard to trade and completely ignore the fact that the organization is rebuilding and not ready to compete for a Stanley Cup.

The latest is 20-year-old Blue Jackets defenseman David Jiříček, who is reportedly close to being traded by Columbus. Flyers fans will remember Jiříček from the 2022 draft, when the Orange and Black, holding the No. 5 overall pick, faced a dilemma between offense and defense. The Flyers, who reportedly were high on and seriously considered selecting Jiříček, ultimately chose forward Cutter Gauthier, while Jiříček went off the board a pick later to Columbus. Fast forward to this past January, and Gauthier, fresh off a strong showing at the World Juniors for Team USA and amid a record-breaking sophomore season at Boston College, was traded to Anaheim for Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick. It was revealed at that time that Gauthier had told the Flyers he would not play for them and that almost all communication between his camp and the team had stopped.

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Now with the Blue Jackets trading Jiříček, and reportedly soon, should the Flyers double back and make a play at landing the big defenseman? Here’s why they should resist that urge.

It’s easy to see why teams would be interested in Jiříček, as he is still very young — he turns 21 on Thursday — and is a player with significant pedigree. Top-10 picks don’t traditionally get moved two years after they are drafted, although weirdly four of the top 14 picks in the 2022 draft, including Gauthier, have already been traded.

Jiříček is pretty close to a consensus top-25 drafted prospect in hockey. He’s got great size at 6-foot-4, 204 pounds, and has a booming slapshot, intriguing puck skills, and some snarl. While skating isn’t a strength, he moves well enough at his size, and can both carry the puck through the neutral zone and jump into the offense in transition. That combination of size, physicality, and offensive upside both as a shooter and a passer made him a coveted player entering his draft year. Players with Jiříček’s tools and frame don’t grow on trees, particularly right-shot ones.

The Czechia native does not come without some risk. He has dominated at times in the American Hockey League — he was an All-Star and posted 38 points in 55 games as a 19-year-old rookie in 2022-23 — but it hasn’t necessarily translated to NHL success thus far. Jiříček has played at a 0.69 point-per-game pace (59 points in 86 games) in the AHL but has just one goal and 11 points in 53 career games with Columbus. He hasn’t played much power-play time in the NHL but nonetheless, the contrast in production is staggering.

The biggest questions with Jiříček come at the defensive end, as some wonder whether he defends well enough to be a top-four defenseman at the highest level. He has good reach and isn’t afraid to be physical but his backward skating is a bit clunky and he can be caught out of position being overaggressive at both ends of the ice. He can be turnover-prone too, sometimes trying to make plays that aren’t there given his passing acumen. There’s also the red flag of him not being an every-night NHLer the past season and a half despite playing for the lowly Blue Jackets, with Columbus’ brass not shy about voicing their disappointment with his defensive development.

“The games he’s played, to be fair, maybe he hasn’t had a great opportunity. … But in those games, we haven’t seen enough to keep him in there on a regular basis. We’re going to have to make some decisions here in the upcoming week about what we do,” Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said a few weeks ago on the local TV broadcast.

While those comments aren’t encouraging, Columbus has been anything but a stable environment over the past few seasons and teams will view Jiříček as a reclamation project who might just need a change of scenery to unlock his potential.

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Given where the Flyers are in their rebuild, they aren’t in a position to turn down any chance to add talented young players with high ceilings. For that reason, Jiříček makes some sense, especially when you consider the Flyers scouting staff’s previous interest in him. The Flyers still need to add talent all over the ice and their defense corps is far from a finished product, especially on the right side.

The Flyers currently have Rasmus Ristolainen, Drysdale, Erik Johnson, and Helge Grans as right-shot defensemen in the NHL. The team’s No. 1 defenseman Travis Sanheim, who shoots left, plays the right side as well — a rare blueliner who prefers playing his off-side. Top defensive prospects Oliver Bonk and Spencer Gill also both shoot right, with Bonk likely competing for an NHL job next fall.

With Johnson, 36, likely in his last season here, and Ristolainen a good candidate to be moved during/after the season given his rising value, the Flyers’ reported interest in Jiříček isn’t all that surprising. Then there is the uncertain future of Drysdale, who has offensive ability but serious defensive and injury question marks. Drysdale, 22, has one year remaining on his contract after this season and has yet to make anywhere near the impact Emil Andrae, also 22, has in his 12 games this season.

While not the defender that Ristolainen is, Jiříček would represent an upgrade offensively, has power-play upside, and given his size, could be viewed as a ready-made replacement for the Finn long-term on the right if the Flyers elect to trade him. With Sanheim, York, Andrae, and Bonk all seemingly part of the long-term plan — GM Danny Brière better hope Drysdale is as well — do the Flyers need to trade assets for another young, unproven defenseman?

The Blue Jackets reportedly want a young player/high-end prospect in return for Jiříček but they might also accept a package of picks given their current situation. The Flyers are not trading Matvei Michkov or Jett Luchanko, and I’d be surprised if they would move on this quickly from Bonk either given his recent ascent. So what do the Flyers have to move? The Flyers view York as part of the long-term plan while youngish players Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, and Drysdale’s values wouldn’t get this done without being attached to high draft picks. Tyson Foerster also doesn’t have the same type of pedigree or ceiling as Jiříček and would likely only work as part of a bigger package.

The Flyers do have the draft picks to make a deal. They have three firsts and three seconds in next year’s draft, although Colorado’s (Sean Walker trade) and Edmonton’s (for No. 32 in 2024) firsts are both likely to fall in the mid-20s. Columbus would likely hold out for at least a first-rounder, and giving up a late-first-round lottery ticket for a more developed talent like Jiříček wouldn’t be bad in theory. The Gauthier-Drysdale and Rutger McGroarty-Brayden Yager trades are comparables for what a Jiříček deal could look like.

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The Flyers’ biggest problem isn’t defense but rather a complete lack of organizational depth down the middle of the ice. Sean Couturier, who turns 32 in a few weeks, has not played like a No. 1 center since his back surgeries, Frost remains the most frustrating of enigmas and is set to be a restricted free agent, and the Flyers only have Luchanko in the pipeline when it comes to potential top-two centers. Acquiring centers should be the Flyers’ first, and second priorities, and while Brière should be working the phones, the Flyers need to address the middle of the ice before they can splash assets on another defenseman.

Sure, there might not be any young top-two-caliber centers available at the moment. But the Flyers would be well served to stand pat until the next one does, assuming the cost of Jiříček begins with a first-rounder. The Flyers have done a nice job in recent seasons accumulating picks and some high-end prospects. There will come a time when it makes sense to package some of them to acquire an established player at a position of need. That position right now is center and while Jiříček is a player with real potential, the Flyers would be smart to hold onto their picks and not jump at the first shiny new toy available, especially given their need down the middle far outweighs the need to add another young player on the blue line. Brière and president Keith Jones have harped on patience and the importance of not getting carried away and moving future assets or rushing the team’s contention window. Now, let’s see if they practice what they’ve preached.