Penguins lose Jiricek trade sweepstakes; Wild people pay a high price

The Pittsburgh Penguins and general manager Kyle Dubas were unsuccessful in their pursuit of big defenseman David Jiricek, losing the trade sweepstakes to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday afternoon.

The Minnesota Wild acquired Jiricek, the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, for a package that the Penguins most likely would not match. Minnesota GM Bill Guerin traded a first-, second- and fourth-round pick as well as fullback Daemon Hunt to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jiricek.

Update: The 2025 first-round pick is protected in the top five. If Minnesota’s first-rounder is in the top five, a 2026 first-rounder will be selected by default.

Trade rumors swirled between the Penguins and Jiricek for a week, starting with Dubas traveling to Cleveland, presumably to meet Jiricek with Columbus’ AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.

This season, the Penguins have already acquired former first-round pick Philip Tomasino, selected 24th overall in 2019, from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick that originally belonged to the New York Rangers. And before training camp, Dubas traded his 2023 first-round pick Brayden Yager (14th overall) to the Winnipeg Jets’ 2022 first-rounder Rutger McGroarty (14th overall).