Minnesota Wild complete trade to acquire former 6th overall pick David Jiricek from the Columbus Blue Jackets

For much of this season there have been reports of Blue Jackets defenseman David Jiricek being unhappy with his role and future with the team.

Recently David Jiricek was sent down to the AHL and Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell revealed he was working to figure out the future for David Jiricek.

This evening, that future has been resolved, as David Jiricek was sent to the Minnesota Wild in a blockbuster trade.

According to NHL insider Chris Johnston the Minnesota Wild will be giving up defenseman Daemon Hunt and draft picks to land David Jiricek.

While David Jiricek has struggled to find his role with the Blue Jackets he is still one of the top young talents on defense in the NHL.

David Jiricek when he was drafted was supposed to be an elite two-way defenseman who could step into the NHL essentially immediately.

After being selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets many expected David Jiricek to be a staple of their defensive unit by now.

However, several coaching changes and even a change in the General Manager changed all of these circumstances and left David Jiricek in limbo.

In just 6 NHL games this season David Jiricek had just one point but when being sent to the AHL he dominated with 3 points in 4 games.

This situation seems like the Blue Jackets just couldn't quite figure out how to give David Jiricek the minutes and offensive role he needed to succeed.

Now he will head to Minnesota where he can likely get plenty more minutes and be the second-best offensive defenseman on the team just behind Brock Faber going forward.

As David Jiricek gets to Minnesota it will be interesting to hear his side of the story with what went wrong in Columbus.