Welcome to another prospect profile here at AATJ! Today we are taking a look at Czech defenseman Adam Jiricek. Yes, his last name actually has a couple of extra marks above some letters, known as the hacek in the Czech language, but I will not be adding those in, sorry. It’s just a lot of work each time I write his name.
Jiricek is highly touted coming into this draft, but thanks to injuries this past season, he is seen somewhat as a wild card. Some have him ranked near where the Devils pick at 10, while others have him in the late-20s. He has pro experience in the Czech Extraliga, playing the majority of his season this year at that level, so he already has good experience playing against men. What will that do for his draft stock? Let’s take a look at him and his game.
-LINK TO ELITE PROSPECTS STATS-
Jiricek is a young prospect, with a June birthday. He actually will be turning 18 on the first night of the draft, June 28th. This of course means that he is perhaps the youngest prospect in this draft, and he always plays his seasons a year younger than his eligibility. So for example, he played his entire age-18-eligible season as a 17-year-old. This is both good and bad for him. It’s great because he is performing well despite being younger, and he has more time to develop. He plays better than those older than him, giving him a leg up. If he is already this good as a younger prospect, he has more time to develop and grow better than those who are close to a year older than him but still in the same draft class. The negative, of course, is that he might take longer to develop, especially physically. He stands 6’2 according to Elite Prospects, so his height is good, but he only weighs 168 pounds, he’s practically a twig. Bulking up will come with age, and that could change his game.
Jiricek has played the entirety of his career up til now in Czechia, playing in the HC Plezn system. Two seasons ago, as a 16-year-old (again, his age 17 season in terms of eligibility), he played for their U20 team basically the entire season and played well, with 29 points in 41 games. He then played in the playoffs for their U17 club and absolutely dominated the younger competition with 13 points in 8 playoff games. His stock was riding high heading into his draft year, but sadly things would go sideways somewhat. This year, he played most of his games in the pro Extraliga, the top league in Czechia, but he only played 19 games there. He was oft-injured this past season, suffering a concussion early on, and then taking a knee injury at the World Juniors which ended his season early. It has led to some people dropping him outside the top 20 in their rankings. But nonetheless, he did still get some quality experience in the Extraliga, even if it could have been better without the injuries, so some are still high on what he can become.
On the positive, he does have a ton of international experience playing for his home country. Over the last two seasons, between various international tournaments, he has 58 games of international experience, and that is amazing. Any Canadian junior hockey player would be jealous, they have to fight a loaded system just to get 5-10 games of experience in international play before being drafted. This gives scouts tons of game tape to see how he plays against the best in the world among players his age, so even with the injuries this year, there is plenty of film on him, both against professionals and against others his age.
-Central Scouting – #4 among European skaters. This remained the same from their midterm rankings, so they did not drop him despite his injuries.
-Elite Prospects – #30 overall, this is the lowest ranking you will see for him
-Bob McKenzie/TSN – #14 overall for his midterm rankings
-Craig Button/TSN – #9 overall for his midterm rankings. This is the highest, and above NJ’s #10 pick
-McKeen’s Hockey – #17 overall
-FC Hockey – #19 overall
-Dobber Prospects – #27 overall in their April rankings
-Smaht Scouting – #14 overall in their Spring rankings
First, let’s look at McKeen’s scouting report, which is very detailed and formatted. Check it out for more details and videos. As they note, Jiricek has been on scouts’ radars for years now, and he had the chance to be a more highly touted prospect if it weren’t for the injuries this season. The author, Matej Deraj, questions how they will affect his draft stock, perhaps dropping from a potential top-10 pick had he been healthy. Nonetheless, he calls him a “well-rounded, two-way defenseman who doesn’t excel at one skill but plays a polished game.” Here is his scouting report for each area of his game:
Skating: “Jiříček is a smooth skater with good four-way mobility and a respectable top speed. He has a lot of tools in his arsenal, allowing him to lose opponents and create opportunities through his skating. Although his style might seem awkward from time to time, skating is definitely not a weakness for the Czech defenseman.” Grade: 55
Shot: “Adam doesn´t have a booming shot from the point. He prefers a wrister, which definitely has some limitations”…”He is a smart player, yet his shooting requires some work. A positive note is the fact he had started to shoot more frequently just before his injury.” Grade: 50
Skills: “Adam Jiříček is a skilled two-way defenseman with polished offensive and defensive skills. He uses his stick well, carries the puck with ease and has the confidence to execute difficult plays. He´s a well-rounded player useful at both ends of the ice. However, he needs to find the right balance and avoid pressuring situations excessively.” Grade: 55
Smarts: “Jiříček loves to play aggressively, takes risks, and doesn´t hesitate to jump on a play when he feels the opportunity. He has a decent positional awareness, knows how to prevent the opponent from scoring and creates a lot of plays for his teammates. He is not immune to making mistakes, especially when playing against much older and stronger opponents. Nevertheless, he´s a smart player and a reliable defenseman.” Grade: 55
Physicality/Compete: “He´s not an overly physical player and doesn´t throw a lot of hits, but the potential is very high. The grade might seem too generous for now, but I truly believe in Jiříček´s path to becoming an effective physical monster. He´s 6-foot2, chooses his battles well and has started to realize how to use his body ideally and how to adjust to stronger, more experienced and physical opponents.” Grade: 60nfl shop aaron rodgers jersey
Next, let’s look at what Smaht Scouting had to say about him in their rankings. This from scout John Tessler:
“Adam Jiricek is one of the stronger defensive defensemen in this class. When defending against the rush, he communicates well with his forwards to explain where he needs the support prior to crossing into the defensive zone. He implements extremely good positioning to shut down passing and shooting lanes to the interior. Jiricek does a great job of re-adjusting his positioning when defending against multiple attackers to shut down potential one-timers. When behind the red line and along the boards, he plays with a physical edge and will look to pokecheck. Jiricek’s floor seems to be a top four defensemen, but with more and more refinement he could potentially be a top two defensemen.”
Finally, let’s look at how Cap Friendly feels about Jiricek and what they say about him. They have a grade of A- on him, and project him to be a second pairing defenseman at the NHL level if things work out for thim. Here is their write up about the Czech:
“Jiricek’s playing in the top men’s league, for Plzen, in the Czech Extraliga. His offense has been slow to develop at the pro level. At the U20 4 Nations tournament (November) he was also held off the score sheet – 3GP – despite being used in all situations. Adam has excellent hockey sense. He identifies his responsibilities, in all three zones, very well. What’s missing is a bit more jump and aggressiveness. He fronts the play defensively, but he has room to attack his check and win more pucks. Same goes for the offensive zone. He distributes fine, but when he gets a chance to direct a puck on net he needs to ‘plan ahead’ and release the play to the net quicker – harder – and more accurately. Remains one of the top defence prospects for the draft. Leans 2-way / Distributor. Needs time. Added strength should clean up some of his deficiencies. Suffered an injury at World Juniors at Christmas that is keeping him out of the lineup long term.”
First, here is a scouting report video from Simon St-Laurent:
Here we have a shift-by-shift analysis from an Elite Prospects scout:
Finally, here are some highlights from his participation in the 2023 Hlinka Cup:
As it has been noted here, Jiricek is really a big wild card in this draft. If he had stayed healthy and continued to progress as he had been this entire draft eligible season, he probably could be considered a strong pick sometime around the Devils own draft spot at #10. He was on that kind of trajectory. However, the concussion and then the knee injury really derailed thathockey jersey oversized. He did get 19 games of pro experience in the Extraliga, and that is no joke, but it isn’t the same as a full season of being healthy and producing.
This kind of has similar vibes to Hendrix Lapierre from several years ago. He was draft eligible in 2020, but his draft eligible season was derailed hard from injuries, and he was a major wild card in that draft. Washington ended up taking him at #22 overall, and he solidly broke into the NHL this year with 22 points in 51 games. Jiricek has a similar feel to that. He could’ve gone top 10 easily, but he might end up falling to 20ish, or even later, depending on what teams feel about his injury. But he has the potential and the skills, and if he gets healthy and gets back to positive progression, he could break into the NHL in his early 20s and find success.
To me, this isn’t someone the Devils need to be targeting at 10 overall, but I absolutely understand the allure in the pick. This is someone who, if he was healthy and played well this year, might have been gone before NJ picks at 10. To get someone with better than top 10 talent at that pick, with good upside, is tantalizing. And it can clearly work out, as Lapierre shows us. But there are just a ton of risks with that pick too. What if he stalls out after the injury? His offensive production already was not there in the Extraliga this year, what if that is a sign of what his game might be like at the pro level moving forward? That would not be ideal for a #10 overall pick. Plus, his game reminds me a lot of Simon Nemec too. Do the Devils want to draft another Nemec-like player so high with their first round pick? Might that be better spent on someone with a different style of play?
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In the end, I would completely understand it if the Devils wanted to take the risk on him so high, it would not be unjustified. But if I were making the pick, I am not sure I would want to take that kind of gamble.
What do you think about Adam Jiricek? What do you think about his game when he is healthy, and what do you think about how the injuries might affect him? If you watched any of that film, what did you think about seeing him out there? Based on all of that, what do you think about where he should go in the draft? When would be acceptable to start calling his name? Please leave your comments below, and thanks for reading another prospect profile here at AATJ!
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