Don Waddell has never been afraid to make a trade, it just has to be the right one.
Saturday, he finally got an offer he couldn’t refuse for David Jiricek.
Since the No. 6 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft was sent to AHL Cleveland last week, teams around the NHL had asked Waddell about the defenseman’s availability. The Blue Jackets general manager said Jiricek never requested a trade, but it appeared both sides got to a point where they felt like a fresh start made sense.
Waddell still had to find the right move, and it finally came together Saturday. The Blue Jackets sent Jiricek and a fifth-round draft pick to Minnesota for defenseman Daemon Hunt and four picks, including a conditional first-round choice in the 2025 draft.
“If there’s a deal that makes sense for the team and makes us better, then it’s something I have to look at,” Waddell said. “Everybody was aware of the situation. Teams started making offers. I told David’s representation that I’m not making a trade for the sake of making a trade, I’m making a trade if we can help the Columbus Blue Jackets. We felt we got to that point today and we were able to make that deal.”
Hunt was assigned to Cleveland after the deal, but it’s fair to say it wouldn’t be a surprise if he sees minutes for the Blue Jackets this season. The 22-year-old left-shot defenseman has played in 13 NHL games – one this season – for Minnesota but was one of the Wild’s last cuts of training camp.
A native of Brandon, Manitoba, and the former captain of the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL, Hunt was a third-round pick of the Wild in the 2020 draft. The 6-1, 201-pounder has spent most of the past two seasons with Iowa of the AHL, totaling five goals and 40 points in 110 games those two years.
“I’ve known the player for several years, and our scouts have watched him,” Waddell said. “Everybody feels that he’s ready to make that next step, whether it’s today or next month or whenever. He’s played some games in the NHL, but he has the skill, the composure.
“As we’ve said, these young D, it takes time because it’s just such a hard position, but we feel like that if we need him right now, he’d be ready to play. We’ll see how things play out here, but I’m sure at some point he’ll get a chance to play.”
Hunt already has a pair of interesting CBJ ties, including playing with fellow Monsters defenseman Denton Mateychuk in Moose Jaw (Mateychuk would go on to follow Hunt as the Warriors’ captain). He is also the second cousin of longtime CBJ forward Matt Calvert, who is now his agent.
Hunt also won’t need much introduction to Dean Evason, as the Blue Jackets head coach was in Minnesota before coming to Columbus. When Hunt made his NHL debut a season ago in a five-game stint with the Wild, Evason was behind the bench.
“He’s steady,” Evason said. “He’s put up numbers when he was younger in junior, which a lot of guys do, and he’s a steady defenseman. He moves the puck very well, skates well, plays a hard game. I liked the games that he was up. I communicated with the coach in Iowa, and he’s really liked his game this year, so I’m looking forward to having him in our organization.
Waddell said he also was pleased with the haul of draft picks acquired in the deal. Columbus now has a pair of first-round picks in the upcoming draft and eight selections overall, as well as 10 choices in the 2026 draft and nine in 2027.
Waddell has never been afraid to stockpile selections, as in Carolina, he made 12 draft picks in 2019 and 13 in 2021. Not only is it good to have more choices, Waddell said, it can give you flexibility to acquire players each year at draft.
“In all my years at the draft, there’s always players available, but you need assets to be able to get those players,” Waddell said. “If you only have four or five picks, you hate to trade those picks because your scouts work all year for that reason, to draft players. You need players coming in the pipeline, but when you have multiple picks, especially some high-end picks, it could present opportunities to make your team better today.
“And the more darts you can throw at the dartboard, the better chance to get a bullseye.”
