I wrote Jiricek up last week. He's a prospect I really like. I'd say his most-likely scenario is two-way, second-pairing NHL RD but because of his relative youth (a couple months from 2025 draft) and the injuries, he may have more untapped upside on either side of the puck than we may be aware of. Anyway, here it is:
2024 Draft Profile:
RD Adam Jiricek, HC Plzen CZE
In a draft filled with highly regarded defensemen on both sides, an injury-plagued draft eligible season has left Adam Jiricek a bit overlooked for the 2024 draft. The younger brother of Columbus' 2022 #6 overall selection David, Adam's consensus rankings are generally in the teens with a couple outlying (and poorly conceived) rankings listing him as low as #30 overall.
In my opinion, Adam Jiricek has a lot going for him, and the few things working against him are all rather inane. First is that he's Czech -- as we've seen in recent years Czech and Slovak draft prospects are often under-ranked by the general consensus. Second are the injuries, which really robbed him of a year of development -- even more crucially important because third, he's a June birthday and one of the younger players in the 2024 draft class.
What's going for him is why we should all be big fans of Adam Jiricek. This is a 6'2-170 kid who skates very very well, and is one of the rare defensemen his age who excels both with and without the puck. He's an extremely smart and hard-working player whose head is always on a swivel, able to quickly assess virtually any situation he might have to overcome in a hockey game. He plays with consistently remarkable effort and physicality and is versatile enough to be a guy to log time on both the power play and penalty kill. He's just a good all-around player in every sense of the words, and because of his relative youth and lost development time, he might only be scratching the surface.
Jiricek does not have the booming cannon of shot of his older brother David, but he's more capable of high-end passing vision. He is extremely advanced at manipulating defenders in the offensive zone to open up passing lanes, so -- while he is not exactly Cale Makar -- he is one of the rare defensemen who can create offense rather than simply provide offense. He is a good stickhandler, expert at using his body to shield the puck. He rarely makes mistakes, and most of his errors are due to trying to do too much himself.
Defensively, Jiricek is advanced positionally and in his gaps. He excels at reading the play and his teammates' positioning and quick at reacting and anticipating. He uses effective physicality and, for a slim guy, is capable of a bone-jarring hit should the opportunity arrive. Though there is not one single area where Jiricek is elite, he excels at virtually every aspect of hockey.
I expect Adam Jiricek to go somewhere in the middle of the first round, which he is certainly deserving of. Though he lacks the high-octane offense of a Parekh, Mews or Yakemchuk, there is a very real chance he winds up being a more complete NHL RD than any of them. And again, it's important to note that his lost draft-eligible season and relative youth might have masked a possibility that his upside is even higher than the evidence thus far has led us to believe.
