It's hard to believe that the Montreal Canadiens couldn't beat the Minnesota Wild's deal for David Jiricek. Minnesota sent a 2025 first-round pick (top-five protected), their third—and fourth-round selections in 2026, a second-rounder in 2027, and Daemon Hunt to the Columbus Blue Jackets. They received Jiricek and a fifth-round pick back from the Blue Jackets. The rumor was that the Canadiens were one of the teams in on Jiricek, and they had the pieces to give the Blue Jackets a better deal.
The Canadiens have nine picks in the first four rounds of the upcoming draft, including two in the first round. Montreal's second first-round pick this year belongs to the Calgary Flames, which will likely give them the Blue Jackets a higher pick than the Wild's will. Montreal also has six picks in the first four rounds of next year's draft, which means they could've parted with the third and fourth round picks that the Wild gave. In theory, all Montreal had to do was throw in another one of those nine picks from this year's draft and the picks would've been better than Minnesota's offer.
Then you have Daemon Hunt, who played most of his career in the AHL with the Iowa Wild and played just 13 games in Minnesota. The Canadiens have some defensemen worth trading who have much more NHL experience and would be of better value than Hunt. It feels like Kent Hughes should've taken the risk of parting ways with Arber Xhekaj or Justin Barron if it meant acquiring Jiricek.
Jiricek would've been worth the risk of trading all these picks. The Wild felt they wouldn't find anyone in the late first round of this year's draft with the upside of Jiricek and that will likely come true. Minnesota now has an elite upside top six with Jiricek added to the group of Brock Faber, Jonas Brodin, and Jared Spurgeon. If Spurgeon stays healthy and Jiricek makes an immediate impact, the Wild could be a contender in the Western Conference.
Jiricek wouldn't have made the Canadiens an instant contender this season. However, his presence in the future top-four would've made the rebuild even better for the Habs.