Defenseman David Jiříček gets a taste of life with Flyers after impressive start with Phantoms

Seeing a No. 5 skating around in orange on the ice at Xfinity Mobile Arena can make you do a double take at first.

But there’s a new No. 5 in town, replacing Egor Zamula, who is now with the Blue Jackets. Welcome to the David Jiříček era.

Flyers general manager Danny Brière said after the trade deadline that he would “love to see him play some games” in the NHL but made no promises. But on Sunday, the 22-year-old defenseman was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. He joins a Flyers team within striking distance of a playoff spot for the first time in six years.

Part of Jiříček’s promotion was merit, and part of it was that, as the Flyers hit Game 81, the blue line is a little banged up. In 13 games with the Phantoms, Jiříček has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists), and he’s excited to be part of the organization and back in the NHL.

“How they play offense here, it’s kind of different. It’s a better situation for me,” said Jiříček, a native of Czechia. “It’s really different than Iowa [in the AHL] in sort of how it was a different offense, kind of tough for me. ... Here I think the system fits in well.”

Acquired from the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline in March for Bobby Brink, Jiříček was a little shocked by the call that he was on the move. Yet the writing had been on the wall for some time, especially after the Wild snagged Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks.

Now on his third NHL team since being drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets one spot after the Flyers took Cutter Gauthier in 2022, Jiříček has played in 84 NHL games since making his debut three months after that July draft. He has two goals, 13 points, 78 blocked shots, and 52 hits at the NHL level and another 90 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 152 games in the AHL.

“Great shot, something that we heard, like, a really good shot, maybe a potential power-play guy,” coach Rick Tocchet said Monday after the Flyers held their last morning skate of the regular season.

“Things to work on, I think, his D-zone stuff, he’s getting better. But, things like that, working on his feet. That’s just some stuff that’s going to have to be developed with him this summer. But yeah, I’ve heard some good stuff about him.”

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Skating, especially his transitions, has long been suggested as a weakness for Jiříček. But the Flyers have worked with several players over the years who needed to work on that aspect of the game and turned it around.

“David is still a young player who’s trying to figure out his game,” Brière told The Inquirer the day after the trade. “You give him some confidence — I’ve seen him play before — when he plays with that confidence, he’s a totally different player. … I lived it myself. It doesn’t always happen right away.

“There are only so many Macklin Celebrinis, and Connor McDavids, and Sidney Crosbys who figure it out at 18 years old and they dominate right away. Most players go through some ups and downs. We’ve seen it with Trevor Zegras, we’ve seen it with Jamie Drysdale. There’s no guarantee, but we do believe that what we’ve seen in the past, that David has something special that can help us in the future.”

Jiříček is expected to play a big role for the Flyers in the future. He will no longer be waiver-exempt next season and is expected to play a role with the big club. For now, although it’s uncertain if he’ll get into any games, he’s gaining valuable experience being around the club and “what it means to be a Flyer,” as Tocchet said.

A big right-shot defenseman at 6-foot-4, 204 pounds, Jiříček has played in big games. He has represented his country at a World Championship and three World Juniors. Although he was injured in the first game of the 2022 World Juniors, he played five games for the senior club that May as it won bronze, the nation’s first medal at the tournament since 2012.

Sporting an “A” in 2023 at the World Juniors, he was named the best defenseman after potting three goals and seven points in seven games for the silver-medal-winning Czechs.

Dan Vladař starts in goal for the Flyers on Monday against a Carolina Hurricanes squad that is resting several big names before it begins the postseason. Former Flyers forward Nic Deslauriers is expected to play in his return to Xfinity Mobile Arena. ... Hearing from multiple sources that it looks like prospect Jack Nesbitt will be heading to Michigan in the fall, as first reported by NHL insider Jeff Marek. One of the Flyers’ two first-round picks in June, the center had 58 points (25 goals, 33 assists) in 55 regular-season games for Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League. He has eight points in six playoff games for the Spitfires, who have a 2-0 lead on Flint in the second round of the OHL playoffs.