The Columbus Blue Jackets have traded defenseman David Jiricek and a 2025 5^th round pick to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman Daemon Hunt, a 2025 conditional 1^st round pick, a 2027 2^nd round pick, a 2026 3^rd round pick, and a 2026 4^th round pick.

The Wild receive:

Jiricek, the sixth overall pick in the 2022 draft and a top defense prospect. Jiricek has split the past two seasons between Columbus and their AHL affiliate in Cleveland.

The Blue Jackets receive:

Hunt, a third-round pick in 2020. Hunt has spent most of the past 2+ seasons playing for the Wild's AHL affiliate in Iowa. Plus a heavy volume of draft picks.

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This trade focuses on players who haven't been full-time NHLers, so the fantasy impact won't likely be immediate. Down the road, the Wild might be set on the right side of their defense with Brock Faber and now Jiricek. Add 2024 first-round pick Zeev Buium and the future looks very bright on the Minnesota blueline.  

If Jiricek can properly develop into an NHL regular and tap into his offensive upside, he could eventually challenge Faber to be on the top power play. Jiricek may still need more time in the AHL, so this trade shouldn't affect Faber's value this season. Jiricek still has a path to some power-play time this season if he spends any time on the Wild, as Declan Chisholm is currently third among Wild d-men in power-play icetime.

Hunt is also knocking on the door to be an NHL player. If the Blue Jackets trade Ivan Provorov before the deadline as rumored, one of Hunt or Denton Mateychuk may move up to the NHL. Mateychuk is worth mentioning here because he was drafted the same year as Jiricek (12^th overall), and he has already piled up 20 points in 18 AHL games as a 20-year-old. Hunt is not of the same pedigree as Jiricek, which is why this move helps Mateychuk overall.

Players this helps, in order:

Jiricek

Mateychuk

Players this hurts, in order:

Chisholm

Faber

Buium

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Discuss the trade in this thread on the Forum.