David Jiricek is set to make his season debut for the Blue Jackets on Saturday against the Minnesota Wild .
Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said Jiricek, 20, will draw into a lineup that might feature seven defensemen and only 11 forwards rather than a typical six and 12 setup. It will be his first action since the preseason, which is notable because he's still a young defenseman with high potential. General managers in the NHL typically want those type of players, especially defensemen, maturing into impact players by logging a lot of ice time, whether they're in the NHL or American Hockey League.
"We've talked about earning the right to play and to be in that room, and so, if you don't play ... you have to earn the right to get into our lineup," Evason said. "How do you do that? Well, you do it with a positive attitude, you work your (tail) off every day, you are detailed, you're coachable and you get yourself ready to play, and we notice that. Coaches notice that. If you do all the right things, you give yourself a better chance to earn the right to get into our lineup, and he has done that."
Jiricek was selected sixth overall by the Blue Jackets in 2022 and has spent the bulk of the past two seasons playing on the top defense pairing for the AHL Cleveland Monsters . Last season, after helping Cleveland win the North Division title, he contributed to the Monsters' run into the Eastern Conference finals of the Calder Cup playoffs ― pushing eventual champion Hersey to overtime in Game 7 before losing.
In the NHL, Jiricek has added one goal, nine assists and 10 points in 47 games over the past two seasons while playing for former Blue Jackets coaches Brad Larsen in 2022-23 and Pascal Vincent last season. Jiricek made the Blue Jackets' opening roster this season, but has watched the first four games as a healthy scratch. He struggled defensively in the preseason, but has high upside on both sides of the puck as a big, right-handed defenseman with a booming shot.
Jiricek's pathway to playing time also stems from the Blue Jackets' shortage of NHL forwards .
They're missing captain Boone Jenner (shoulder surgery) for most of the season, Dmitry Voronkov (shoulder) until at least November and now Kent Johnson — who left with an upper-body injury believed to be a shoulder issue in the Blue Jackets' 6-4 victory Thursday over the Buffalo Sabres.
Veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson is also walking around with a sling after leaving early in Tuesday's loss to the Florida Panthers with a shoulder injury that landed him on injured reserve. Jenner was injured in a practice drill late in the preseason, while Gudbranson and Johnson were injured during falls after collisions with teammates the past two games ― all fluke occurrences.
In other injury news, leading scorer Yegor Chinakhov didn't practice Friday. According to a team source, he's expected to play Saturday but had precautionary X-rays taken after blocking a shot Thursday.
"For sure, there's an element of, 'What the heck's going on?'" Evason said. "On the other side of it, there's not a thing we can do about it. What are we going to do, ask our guys never to get close to each other (on the ice)? Boone gets hurt in practice. Do we ask them not to work hard, not to play hard? It happens. Are we disappointed that we don't have some people in our lineup? Sure, but we have people in our lineup, and each night, each day, we conduct ourselves the same regardless of who's in our lineup."
bhedger@disopatch.com
@BrianHedger
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets injuries create opening for David Jiricek's season debut
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