2024 St. Louis Blues Draft Profile: Adam Jiricek

The St. Louis Blues' 1st selection in the 62nd NHL Entry draft is official- 18-year-old defenseman Adam Jiricek from HC Skoda Plzen in the Czech Extraliga, the Republic's top professional league. The younger brother of Columbus Blue Jackets D David Jiricek, a prospect within the Jackets' system currently with the AHL's Cleveland Monsters, Adam is a player that has the right amount of pace and can create opportunities for teammates, something the Blues could definitely use this upcoming season.

St. Louis initially looked to trade with the Philadelphia Flyers for the 12th overall pick, only for the Broad Street Bullies to send that pick to Central rival Minnesota. It ended up being Zeev Buium, who would've become an absolute steal of a pick had St. Louis been able to finalize a deal. The Blues' consolation is Jiricek, who had a much better 2022/23 campaign with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points with Plzen's U20 squad but had lower figures with the senior team, posting 2 assists without finding the net even once.

Jiricek is also good at the junior international level, especially with the Czech U17 team, where he notched 4 goals and 2 assists in 13 games. In the U18 category, Jiricek had 1 assist in 5 games in 2022/23 and 1 goal plus 3 assists for 4 points in 9 games during his 2023/24 campaign that was cut short with a severe knee injury.

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Jiricek is a tough defenseman with a good amount of untapped potential; it's just a matter of whether or not he can stay healthy for longer than he's done. He also joins an aging Blues defensive core that desperately needs new blood on that side of the puck. It'll be interesting to see how well he might transition to the NHL after not playing for some time. He could be paired up with fellow young defenseman Tyler Tucker to replace the aging Marco Scandella or with Matthew Kessel to replace Nick Leddy. One thing's for certain—training camp will determine everything for this young Czech.

For now, some might say it's an unusual, almost risky pick, even for someone taken midway through the 1st round. But on the other end, who knows? Jiricek could be an unknown potential steal that could become a great defensive savior for St. Louis.

It's the first of many selections for the Blues in this draft, their next not until the middle part of the 2nd round at number 48, due to a couple of trades with the Maple Leafs and Rangers, the first involving a couple of prospects and some 2023 selections, and the other for some more prospects as well as sending Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola to Manhattan in exchange for Sammy Blais, Hunter Skinner, a 2023 1st round selection and a 3rd round pick for this year's draft.