‘It’s up to me. Everyone is watching’: Can former lottery pick David Jiříček win a job on the Flyers’ blue line?
The former top-10 pick has bounced around from Columbus to Minnesota and now to Philadelphia. The talented 22-year-old with the big shot knows he needs to seize this chance.
On Wednesday, David Jiříček and Oliver Bonk both skated with the NHL group, cementing them as the top two contenders for the final spot on the Flyers’ opening-night defense, next to veteran Nick Seeler.
The Flyers want their young players to learn from playing big minutes. They’re unlikely to keep Bonk up to be the seventh defenseman, as opposed to being on the top pair in Lehigh Valley.
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But Jiříček, who the Flyers acquired at last year’s trade deadline from Minnesota, is the only one of the Flyers’ young defensemen who is not waiver-exempt, meaning the Flyers can’t send him down without risking losing him for nothing.
The final cut days of training camp are a busy time on waivers, which could increase the odds of Jiříček slipping by unclaimed. But it’s more likely that the Flyers would keep Jiříček up even if he doesn’t win the job, just to continue to get him reps and practice without risking losing the talented blueliner for nothing.
“Offense is there, so I just have to play defense, sounds easy, right?” the 22-year-old joked. “Be good on defense, don’t make mistakes — obviously everyone makes mistakes, but try to do it as little as you can, and everything is going to be fine.”
In practice, Jiříček got reps running the point on the Flyers’ second power-play unit, with Travis Konecny, Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, and Alex Bump.
After Monday’s preseason loss to Washington, Tocchet said he wanted to see the 6-foot-4, 204-pound Jiříček be more aggressive with his shot, something Tocchet believes he’s held back on in practice to avoid hurting his teammates.
“Guys get that way, they want to endear themselves to their teammates,” Tocchet said. “They want to give them passes and stuff, but he’s got a gifted shot. I think he took it one time and it was a heater. I want to see three of those a game.”
Tocchet said that another one of Jiříček’s biggest strengths is his patience with the puck and ability to slow the play down. But “when there’s chaos,” Jiříček begins to struggle, so the Flyers worked to develop his abilities reading the game and learning how to shut down plays in the corner during his 15-game stint to end the year with Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.
The former No. 6 overall pick has struggled to stick in the NHL since his draft year in 2021, mostly due to challenges adapting defensively and with his skating. Tocchet said it was fair to say Jiříček’s strides are still a bit clunky, but joked that he too played “ugly” during his time in the NHL.
“Don’t get me wrong, we all work on our skating, we work on all sorts of stuff,” Tocchet said. “But it might not look pretty sometimes, but he does get the job done.”
» READ MORE: Acquiring David Jiříček is the latest example of the Flyers’ unorthodox approach to rebuilding. It’s worth the risk.
Jiříček racked up 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 15 games with the Phantoms to end last season. Both of these goals came on the power play, earning him a call-up for the final regular-season game. Tocchet said he’s seen significant progression from Jiříček since he first came to the organization at last year’s trade deadline, but there’s still more room to grow.
“It’s up to me. Everyone is watching,” Jiříček said. ”...Try to make them feel like I’m ready and I’m here to take a spot.”
Breakaways
Denver Barkey, who Tocchet described as “day to day” on Tuesday, skated with the Phantoms group and skated on the ice alone between practices in a non-contact jersey. ... Jett Luchanko and Cole Knuble sat out Wednesday’s practice after playing in back-to-back preseason games. ... Nikita Grebenkin (upper body) is full-contact in practice and Tocchet expects him to play in Thursday’s preseason game against the Boston Bruins. “The guys won’t hit him. He wants to be hit,” Tocchet joked. ... The Flyers placed forwards Carl Grundström, Jack Studnicka, Nolan Foote, Danila Klimovich, and Zach Aston-Reese, and defenseman Cam Dineen on waivers Wednesday. ... The team also assigned forwards Noah Powell and Riley Thompson, defensemen Spencer Gill, Hunter McDonald, Ty Murchison, and goaltender Carson Bjarnason to Lehigh Valley. Meanwhile, forward Matthew Gard was returned to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League.
