Should the San Jose Sharks have traded for David Jiricek? (1:23:35)
Keegan and Sheng talk about it on this week’s episode of the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast!
But before we talk Jiricek, we chat about the latest San Jose Sharks’ news and their recent inspired play.
What did we think of Joe Thornton’s jersey retirement? (04:45)
We talk about Sharks prospects who were invited to their World Junior selection camps like Sam Dickinson and Brandon Svoboda — and about prospects who aren’t going to World Juniors like Will Smith and Quentin Musty. (09:40)
Meanwhile, the San Jose Sharks have been playing some good hockey. (25:33) We discuss Rookie of the Month and NHL 1st Star of the Week Macklin Celebrini, and what Sheng was worried that Will Smith was going to lose (but didn’t). Keegan runs a lap for Fabian Zetterlund around Timo Meier, and praises William Eklund.
We credit GM Mike Grier for his veteran additions like Alex Wennberg, Jake Walman, and Timothy Liljegren. Obligatory Luke Kunin reference. (57:51)
Keegan doesn’t think that Grier will trade Mackenzie Blackwood. (1:19:05)
Finally, let’s talk David Jiricek! (1:23:35)
Before Jiricek got traded to the Minnesota Wild, Sheng talked with a lot of his sources about Jiricek.
What does the rest of the league think of Daemon Hunt and Jiricek? Does Jiricek project as a top-pairing or top-four blueliner?
What’s the San Jose Sharks’ best equivalent to the Wild’s 2025 first-rounder…William Eklund, Shakir Mukhamadullin, or Musty?…and would Sheng or Keegan have parted with any of these assets for Jiricek? (1:38:06)
Which prospect would you rather have in your system, Jiricek or Yaroslav Askarov?
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24 Comments
Don’t think so
He finally busted the jersey out
Thanks for continuing to provide good and thoughtful coverage of the Sharks, fellas, especially during this exciting rebuild period. Nice to have a consistent place to hear smart Sharks conversation.
Hell no to that price for Jiricek. A top end franchise goalie can carry an entire team through the playoffs. I like the upside and impact of Askarov over Jiricek.
I would’ve given up Bystedt, Bordeleau, and Mukuhmadullin for Jiricek. MUSTY is off limits!!
I’m surprised Simon Nemec hasn’t requested for a trade yet. He’s in competition with Hamilton, Dillon, Sigenthaler, Pesce, Hughes, Kovacevic, and Casey! I would request a trade if I’m Devils!
I would give them Granlund and Bystedt for Nemec! Great for the devils and their needs!
An unproven Jiricek cost too much for the Sharks. If he was the last piece needed to win the Cup, then and only then give away all those draft picks.
Nope. You can see why Askasov was troubled by his future in Nashville. Jiricek's discontent in CBJ over not wanting to continue his development the way the staff saw fit is a red flag. Would definitely not be disrupting lineups and our own team development for that. I will be surprised if this works out well for Minny.
Not for the price Min paid. Though I do think it was smart for Min
Pairing Jiricek and Buium will be amazing in a few years
They pick up Jiricek and Kaprisov is at the end of his contract, I'd take Kaprisov in teal any day over Jiricek personally.
1:05:55 I hear that guy is really good at Klimming up loose pucks around the net.
If you mess with him like Vatrano did it's gonna end up Kostin you…he's going to Klim your clock.
Columbus wanted a first round pick and their first rounder is probably Top 5 so no it would have been a mistake
Would have loved to get him, but definitely not for that price
The truth aout Luca "Dan Boyle" Cagnoni is coming to light.
For the price of Jiricek, the Sharks could’ve acquired a legit top defenseman in his prime. Jiricek might become a top 4 D, or he might be the next Ryan Merkley. Glad that Grier didn’t pull the trigger on this one.
Jiricek's skating still needs a lot of improvement. I was okay with missing out.
Smoking some crazy stuff to even entertain the idea of Musty for Jiricek lol
You said it with your awesome reporting as usual Sheng… Slow, not a great skater, not a top pairing, many years out…
Musty and Cagnoni seems crazy for that.
Klim living. There’s your Kostin pun
No on Jiricek for that price, i'm glad we stayed away. We do, however, have a glaring hole in the pipeline at RHD. I wonder if we do keep an eye out in the market, even with Lijgren in the lineup, to find a promising puck moving D that can grow with the org.
The jury on Dickinson might still be out in terms of what kind of defender he will be. I watched a video on him last week here that highlighted his somewhat lazy approach in the zone. It's tough to know whether this is because he can save his energy for offense because the team is so good, or if the competition just is too small and slow to get around him anyways. He's not moving his feet too much on the backskating and yet nobody is getting by him. I hesitate to say he "can't" do these things, but right now he isn't. I love the idea of seeing him at World Juniors to get an idea of what he'll do against better competition where he will go against faster, bigger players who can exploit bad footwork. I wish he could play in the AHL because he seems to be way too good for the OHL.
Parekh, Yakemchuk, and Buium have all plateaued on offense, though, so either they are spending all their energy on D or they haven't improved as much as Dickinson. The offensive numbers for Sam are so good that you just have to assume they do mean something, I would say. He's 3rd in the league in scoring as a D-man.
I'm trying to decide how much I want the Sharks to ascend above the bottom 5 this year. Seems like they could get to the middle of the pack, but the difference between who they would get at 13 and 3 is monstrous and would cost a lot in terms of the peak this team will ever reach.
Grier will have to thread the needle here to keep this culture but also maximize assets. Blackwood and Granlund can stay here and the team could play .500 hockey or maybe the team can get some future assets and an elite prospect and next year and the next 5 will be a lot better. I don't want to finish .500 this year if it costs us a Cup in 5 years
I went to the seattle game in seattle and it was the first sharks game I've been to in like 8 years. I moved from pacifica to Victoria for school, grew up playing in the bay at silvercreek and santa clara/foster city. It was amazing seeing these guys play again. Watching macklin's vision where you can see him look at different players read the play and always be in the right position was a treat from a player's perspective. His hockey IQ is outstanding and the physicality he showed, I remember him skating back to the bench and he just dummied wright (maybe unintentionally), was the most engaged I've been watching hockey in a long time. And seeing Mack and smith passing around in warmup trying to ramp the puck off their skate blades and reacting to each other was funny to see bc they are just kids. Hope to see them again soon, love the content fellas.
The Sharks need to ensure they have a top 3 draft pick, so they have some shot at drafting Matthew Schaefer.
He projects as the missing 1D piece that could solidify the D core.