Player Discussion: David Jiricek, 6th Overall, 2022 Draft

[VT]

You know, I think that Jiříček behaved like an ordinary selfish person. Was he better than Boqvist and Severson? He wasn't. Can he take over Gudbranson's role? He can't. He'd better work on himself.

 

[Indy18]

I'm on team JD on this topic.

I can't believe this kid.

I still feel like this is more Walsh taking advantage of a 19 year old kid. Jiricek probably was angry about it and on the way back Walsh just puffed Jiricek up enough for him to snap.

 

[koteka]

So it sounds like the team is saying something that I expected - Jarmo told a teenager “get an apartment but you will still play in Cleveland some” and the teenager heard the part he wanted to hear which was “get an apartment”. Jarmo probably didn’t emphasize the Cleveland part enough. Jarmo has kids. He has probably said “Finish your homework and we’ll go out for ice cream” to them. He should know kids will only hear “ice cream” so I put plenty of fault on Jarmo here. If you are going to talk with teenagers you should know how to talk to teenagers. The team should recognize this. Like if I own a Burger King and most of the workers are teenagers, my managers better be able to communicate effectively with teenagers.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

The more I think about this, the more I think JD "doesn't get it", the more I think it's because he still has the old school mentality that doesn't mesh well with today's young players.

He's expecting things to work a certain way that they worked 10-15 years ago or more and they just don't.

 

[stevo61]

The more I think about this, the more I think JD "doesn't get it", the more I think it's because he still has the old school mentality that doesn't mesh well with today's young players.

He's expecting things to work a certain way that they worked 10-15 years ago or more and they just don't.

Yeah thats what I thought. Part of the issue is that he doesnt get it. Not just in relation to Jiricek but with a whole host of things

 

[koteka]

 

[Forepar]

I might agree w JD’s thoughts about not getting it, but why on earth would he verbalize them??! I don’t care if there was a direct question - emphasize the positive about the player’s development, indicate understanding of the player’s frustration that the process seems slow (what isn’t slow to a teenager, even 45 years ago??!!), reaffirm the CBJ’s commitment to developing the player and the team. And shut up- “it’s in-house.” It’s like they are trying to send a message to the player and agent through the media - great way to antagonize a situation that if handled in-house and correctly would be a nothing-burger. This FO always tries to have the last word….

 

[DarkandStormy]

I might agree w JD’s thoughts about not getting it, but why on earth would he verbalize them??! I don’t care if there was a direct question - emphasize the positive about the player’s development, indicate understanding of the player’s frustration that the process seems slow (what isn’t slow to a teenager, even 45 years ago??!!), reaffirm the CBJ’s commitment to developing the player and the team. And shut up- “it’s in-house.” It’s like they are trying to send a message to the player and agent through the media - great way to antagonize a situation that if handled in-house and correctly would be a nothing-burger. This FO always tries to have the last word….

Because this front office is a bunch of morons.

Elvis? Let's air the dirty laundry in public and tank our leverage in trying to seek a trade.
Anderson? Let's negotiate in public.
Johansen? Let's let everyone know the terms his agent proposed and what we've proposed.

Etc. etc.

This franchise is a PR nightmare.

 

[Cheddarcheese]

idk why hes complaining guy has played 36 games out of 49 hes acting like hes played 10 games

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I think the “I don’t get it line” was more pointed to the hockey media hounding the Jackets over this situation, not really Jiricek himself.

 

[Crede777]

I agree with JD and Vincent but I think their public message should be different.

It was a surprise, sure. Jiricek is a great kid and is a good player. I understand being disappointed because nobody likes being sent down. We are doing what we think is best for his development. He will be back soon. Everybody goes through this at the start of their career.

You don't need to bring up the narrative of entitlement or "kids these days."

 

[koteka]

Because this front office is a bunch of morons.

Elvis? Let's air the dirty laundry in public and tank our leverage in trying to seek a trade.
Anderson? Let's negotiate in public.
Johansen? Let's let everyone know the terms his agent proposed and what we've proposed.

Etc. etc.

This franchise is a PR nightmare.

I agree with JD and Vincent but I think their public message should be different.

It was a surprise, sure. Jiricek is a great kid and is a good player. I understand being disappointed because nobody likes being sent down. We are doing what we think is best for his development. He will be back soon. Everybody goes through this at the start of their career.

You don't need to bring up the narrative of entitlement or "kids these days."

I mean it goes way back - at least to the “Bob needs to see a psychiatrist” thing.

When talking to the press you just say “He is a great hockey player with a bright future and we are trying to do the best we can to ensure in the long run he will be the best player he can be.” And then shut up. It would have worked with all these guys - Bob, Elvis, Jiricek.

For a sport that makes fun of itself for saying the same things over (“we need to get pucks in deep”), why is this hard to understand?

And then things where I think they should be up front and honest like “playoffs are a long shot and our main goal is player development” they say that they are competing for the playoffs.

 

[stevo61]

I agree with JD and Vincent but I think their public message should be different.

It was a surprise, sure. Jiricek is a great kid and is a good player. I understand being disappointed because nobody likes being sent down. We are doing what we think is best for his development. He will be back soon. Everybody goes through this at the start of their career.

You don't need to bring up the narrative of entitlement or "kids these days."

Its funny that "kids these days" is basically something thats always happened but the ones saying it arent self aware. At one point an older generation said the same thing about them.

Jiricek is disappointed as basically every player in the AHL would be but he answered questions in maybe a too truthful manner. If he did something stupid like say Im not reporting to Cleveland then Id understand people jumping all over it.

 

[Crede777]

I mean it goes way back - at least to the “Bob needs to see a psychiatrist” thing.

When talking to the press you just say “He is a great hockey player with a bright future and we are trying to do the best we can to ensure in the long run he will be the best player he can be.” And then shut up. It would have worked with all these guys - Bob, Elvis, Jiricek.

For a sport that makes fun of itself for saying the same things over (“we need to get pucks in deep”), why is this hard to understand?

And then things where I think they should be up front and honest like “playoffs are a long shot and our main goal is player development” they say that they are competing for the playoffs.

I think this is where Davidson being a former broadcaster does him a disservice. He's playing to the media when he should be offering a cookie cutter response.

 

[Halfboard]

This front office takes an antagonist stance against the players always…..that probably comes from the top ;(Priest) on down. Such a stupid way to conduct a professional sports franchise. The players aren’t the enemy, they don’t need to be talked down to, they’re the franchise’s most valuable assets.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

everyone has (justifiably) spent the whole season saying that JD and jarmo are clowns who should've been fired for gross incompetence. now they're in (another) public spat with a young, high-profile player.

JD goes on the air one (1) time and gives a bunch of old man quotes that will keep this stuff in the news cycle and everyone's just taking his word for it now? yikes.

jiricek absolutely has a point, by the way. he's been a relatively effective 5v5 player. he's last by a wide margin in ice time among cbj defensemen, but top-three in xGF% (2nd), GF% (3rd), CA/60 (2nd), GA/60 (1st), xGA/60 (2nd) and HDCA/60 (2nd).

more importantly, he only has 25 seconds of power play time, after being awesome on the power play last year in cleveland (24 points!).

erik gudbranson, who has 7 power play points in his 13-year career, has 3x as much power play time this year.

damon severson has over 100x more power play TOI than jiricek and a whopping two (2) points to show for it!

vincent won't put him in a position to utilize his best talents (power play) despite that whole unit being garbage. he benches/scratches jiricek for making mistakes (penalties, turnovers) that vets like severson and provorov make too, and don't get benched for.

even if he was prodded into doing it by walsh, he's absolutely not wrong to say that he's earned an NHL lineup spot and should have usage more aligned to what korchinski/nemec are getting.

 

[DarkandStormy]

everyone has (justifiably) spent the whole season saying that JD and jarmo are clowns who should've been fired for gross incompetence. now they're in (another) public spat with a young, high-profile player.

JD goes on the air one (1) time and gives a bunch of old man quotes that will keep this stuff in the news cycle and everyone's just taking his word for it now? yikes.

jiricek absolutely has a point, by the way. he's been a relatively effective 5v5 player. he's last by a wide margin in ice time among cbj defensemen, but top-three in xGF% (2nd), GF% (3rd), CA/60 (2nd), GA/60 (1st), xGA/60 (2nd) and HDCA/60 (2nd).

more importantly, he only has 25 seconds of power play time, after being awesome on the power play last year in cleveland (24 points!).

erik gudbranson, who has 7 power play points in his 13-year career, has 3x as much power play time this year.

damon severson has over 100x more power play TOI than jiricek and a whopping two (2) points to show for it!

vincent won't put him in a position to utilize his best talents (power play) despite that whole unit being garbage. he benches/scratches jiricek for making mistakes (penalties, turnovers) that vets like severson and provorov make too, and don't get benched for.

even if he was prodded into doing it by walsh, he's absolutely not wrong to say that he's earned an NHL lineup spot and should have usage more aligned to what korchinski/nemec are getting.

Jiricek absolutely should have gotten PP time when Werenski and Boqvist were out.

At the very least, put him on the 2nd unit.

Oh wait, sorry, can't disrupt the 14% power play.

 

[Xoggz22]

This front office takes an antagonist stance against the players always…..that probably comes from the top ;(Priest) on down. Such a stupid way to conduct a professional sports franchise. The players aren’t the enemy, they don’t need to be talked down to, they’re the franchise’s most valuable assets.

Look, I'm not supporting this front office but I do want to point out that "always" is so far from the truth. It's what we all latch on to because when an "issue" arises it's front and center. We talk about contracts and player handling and how we "always" screw up. I mean was Boone's contract contentious? Werenski? Has Marchenko's development been bad? Chinakhov? Is Sillinger the lost cause so many thought we had on our hands last year? Texier?

Truly, I've soured on this front office. It's taken me a bit to get there, however, like everything else, it's not as bad as it seems because we only hear what we want to hear or are told by those that think they know. I hate the spot this team is in. When I compare it to last year... You have to see this is so much better. They are at least in every game. They are not getting their doors blown off on a nightly basis. They've had more opportunities to win than in many years past. They can't close. That's soured a lot of people on a lot of things. It sucks. I think they need a change but not "always" is occurring. We just feel like it is because it's the negative that's in front of us and harped on. That's news.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

This front office takes an antagonist stance against the players always…..that probably comes from the top ;(Priest) on down. Such a stupid way to conduct a professional sports franchise. The players aren’t the enemy, they don’t need to be talked down to, they’re the franchise’s most valuable assets.

That's a vibe I get.

I think the top sees them as "merchandise" or replaceable assets instead of being the single most important thing in the organization. Without them the organization can't function and when they are happy and performing, the rest of the organization flows and looks so much better.

Its a powertrip where higher ups think they are more important than the public faces of the organization.

That is the impression I get out of all of these interactions we've seen over the various years.

 

[thebus88]

You know, I think that Jiříček behaved like an ordinary selfish person. Was he better than Boqvist and Severson? He wasn't. Can he take over Gudbranson's role? He can't. He'd better work on himself.

Filatov 2.0?? Seriously, “draft pedigree” might be the best thing Jiricek actually has going for him at the moment.

It’s really that simple, that he’s not a better option than MULTIPLE guys at essentially any role. Of the team has some injuries, it would possibly be different. Werenski is another guy that obviously needs to play (over Jiricek) when healthy.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

everyone has (justifiably) spent the whole season saying that JD and jarmo are clowns who should've been fired for gross incompetence. now they're in (another) public spat with a young, high-profile player.

JD goes on the air one (1) time and gives a bunch of old man quotes that will keep this stuff in the news cycle and everyone's just taking his word for it now? yikes.

jiricek absolutely has a point, by the way. he's been a relatively effective 5v5 player. he's last by a wide margin in ice time among cbj defensemen, but top-three in xGF% (2nd), GF% (3rd), CA/60 (2nd), GA/60 (1st), xGA/60 (2nd) and HDCA/60 (2nd).

more importantly, he only has 25 seconds of power play time, after being awesome on the power play last year in cleveland (24 points!).

erik gudbranson, who has 7 power play points in his 13-year career, has 3x as much power play time this year.

damon severson has over 100x more power play TOI than jiricek and a whopping two (2) points to show for it!

vincent won't put him in a position to utilize his best talents (power play) despite that whole unit being garbage. he benches/scratches jiricek for making mistakes (penalties, turnovers) that vets like severson and provorov make too, and don't get benched for.

even if he was prodded into doing it by walsh, he's absolutely not wrong to say that he's earned an NHL lineup spot and should have usage more aligned to what korchinski/nemec are getting.

On the flipsde as well with Nemec since I also follow the Devils. They absolutely kept him in the minors last year and early this year. They didn't need him in the NHL and were patient with him.

Then injuries hit and they decided to call him up based on need AND they are using him to his strengths. He is excelling and will probably never see Utica again.

This organization is afraid to let young player excel at their strengths. They'd rather shelter them playing minutes in less than ideal situations that they aren't used to.

 

[thebus88]

I think the “I don’t get it line” was more pointed to the hockey media hounding the Jackets over this situation, not really Jiricek himself.

I didn’t listen to the interview quite yet, but yeah, from reading the article yesterday, pretty sure that exact line was referring to things (apparently) being blown out of proportion by the media.

That said, there was a little confusion somewhat recently about what Elvis did or didn’t say also, regarding his words about a possible trade “being lost in translation” while essentially saying the same stuff to the media in his own language back in Latvia.

Granted, I want to listen to what (and how) things were said regarding the different “problem” players. The “wording” didn’t seem all that positive directed towards Laine either.

 

[Viqsi]

I think the “I don’t get it line” was more pointed to the hockey media hounding the Jackets over this situation, not really Jiricek himself.

Wait, that's what those last few posts were about? A presumption that JD was supposedly griping about Jiricek's attitude?

Holy f***, people. That's insane. He's going on and on about the media being stupid the whole time and y'all're assuming he abruptly pivots to Jiricek directly in the middle of that rant with no rationale beyond it makes the FO look as bad and clueless as possible. Go touch grass, please.

 

[thebus88]

I agree with JD and Vincent but I think their public message should be different.

It was a surprise, sure. Jiricek is a great kid and is a good player. I understand being disappointed because nobody likes being sent down. We are doing what we think is best for his development. He will be back soon. Everybody goes through this at the start of their career.

You don't need to bring up the narrative of entitlement or "kids these days."

Vincent’s comparison of Jiricek to his 13 year old daughter is probably the best thing I’ve seen from him all year. IMO.

We have to make EVERYTHING about the TEAM again.

so blown away how the teams reputation and how they conduct themselves has become the complete opposite (both on and off the ice) in such a short period of time.

 

[NotTooWideArena]

even if he was prodded into doing it by walsh, he's absolutely not wrong to say that he's earned an NHL lineup spot and should have usage more aligned to what korchinski/nemec are getting.

I disagree, respectfully but completely. For a player to say his team should be playing him the way these other teams are playing their guys is completely wrong.

He is neither Korchinski or Nemec - he is a different player on a different team with a host of different situations involved. The differences vastly outnumber the perceived similarities.

I get it, he feels entitled. But that doesn't make him right. And it seriously degrades my opinion of his professionalism. Yes, he has been jerked around a bit, and the organization does seem to be clueless about how to use him. But whining is not the solution. I had hoped he was mature enough to know that, but apparently he is not.