Promising Young Right-Handed Defenseman Hits the Market: An Ideal Partner for Leafs' Morgan Rielly
Toronto's defense has been fantastic this season, but they could get even better if they went out and got a towering young defenseman to help Morgan Rielly.
Brad Treliving made a statement this offseason by adding multiple key defenders to the Maple Leafs.
Chris Tanev has completely transformed Jake McCabe, Oliver Ekman-Larsson has looked ten years younger, and Jani Hakanpaa has stabilized Morgan Rielly since his return.
But Toronto has the unique opportunity to acquire a very young, promising defenseman who is not only right-handed (a premium in this day's game) but also another 6'4 giant to patrol their blueline.
There have been rumblings about a trade in Columbus, and with them needing to figure it out soon with their former 6th overall pick, David Jiricek, Toronto is the team to pounce.
Who is David Jiricek?
A 6'4 defenseman hailing from Klatovy, Czech Republic, Jiricek was drafted 6th overall by Columbus in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and is expected to be a huge piece of the Blue Jackets' future.
However he's been tossed between the AHL and NHL, and with a managerial change in Columbus which brought a new staff, things have been tough for Jiricek.
He's only appeared in 52 NHL games and hasn't been able to show what he's capable of yet. He's got 11 points in those games and has shown to be solid defensively for the most part but still has work to do.
Given he hasn't had a chance to shine, what better place to get a chance to improve than with one of the league's best?
How Would David Jiricek Fit Into The Maple Leafs?
Very simply actually. He would take over Jani Hakanpaa's spot with Morgan Rielly and let Hakanpaa pull third-pairing duties with Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
But what about Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe? We don't touch them.
Jiricek on Rielly's side is a two-fold solution. Jiricek needs the veteran guidance of someone like Rielly, and Rielly needs the separation and size that Jiricek brings.
Plus it fulfills the need of Craig Berube to have a right and left-handed defenseman on each pairing.
Yes, that leaves the elite defense in a bit of a pinch, but it's easily changed by switching Hakanpaa and Jiricek again, as Ekman-Larsson is more than capable defensively, and can cover for mistakes.
If Toronto were to acquire Jiricek, this is how they should line up:
Rielly -- Jiricek
McCabe -- Tanev
Ekman-Larsson -- Hakanpaa
Timmins
Yes, it leaves Conor Timmins out of the lineup, but having him as your depth defenseman isn't the worth option, and Toronto can swap him out with Jiricek if they want to go with a different strategy depending on the game.
He would cost a pretty penny, but Toronto has the pieces available to get rid of. A package made up of a combination of David Kampf, Matt Benning, and Nick Robertson could suffice.
It's not going to be easy, but it's not often you see a former Top 10 pick being dangled on the trade block. It's a chance to pick up a future star defenseman at a high, but ultimately, reasonable cost.
