Night one of the 2022 NHL Draft is behind us.
So what did the hockey media think of the Jackets' selections of David Jiricek at sixth overall and Denton Mateychuk at 12th overall?
Patrick Bacon, who provides player cards with analytics on Twitter at @TopDownHockey, thought very highly of the two selections, especially Jiricek.
#CBJ select David Jiricek 6th overall. I ranked him 2nd overall.
— Patrick Bacon (@TopDownHockey) July 8, 2022
Playing against grown men and scoring, like Jiricek has done over each of the past two years in the Czech league, is nearly unprecedented for a prospect his age. With his impressive size, he seems a steal at 6. pic.twitter.com/9q97RxG6Oe
#CBJ select Denton Mateychuk 12th overall. I ranked him 13th overall.
— Patrick Bacon (@TopDownHockey) July 8, 2022
Mateychuk has scored at a solid rate in the WHL for two years now. With a relatively young birthday, Mateychuk is solid value for Columbus, who have bolstered their defensive prospect pool today. pic.twitter.com/9QUXkq2I44
Corey Pronman of The Athletic compared Jiricek to Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and Mateychuk to Arizona blueliner Shayne Gostisbhere. Here are two excerpts from his analysis of the Blue Jackets' selections last night:
Thoughts on the pick: David Jiricek was the last of what had emerged as a top group of six among teams. He’s exactly what Columbus needs in their organization, a hard two-way defenseman who can provide legit offense and play a ton of minutes. The offense isn’t amazing but it doesn’t need to be on the same club as Zach Werenski.
Thoughts on the pick: With Jiricek and Mateychuk in the pipeline, the Blue Jackets have massively upgraded the defense talent in their system. Mateychuk is one of the most, if not the most, dynamic defensemen in the draft, but he is 5-foot-11 as well. I like the swing on the talent here for the Blue Jackets, who after adding several top center prospects in 2021 have now shored up their blue line of the future.
Chris Peters of flohockey.tv is also high on both Jiricek and Mateychuk, ranking them as his No. 1 and No. 3 defensemen in this class, respectively. Here are excerpts from his analysis:
Team Fit: The Blue Jackets have been drafting quite well of late, but needed to bolster their D corps. As a big right-shot guy, Jiricek looks like he should fit in nicely as a top-four option around Zach Werenski, who is under long-term contract in Columbus. Jiricek is probably going to need some time after missing half of the season with an injury, but he should be in the mix to go to training camp with the Blue Jackets. If he doesn't, he can spend another year at home developing or even go to the AHL. Either way, the upside Columbus just secured for its defensive corps is especially high. Jiricek has a chance to be a big-time player. His two-way skills and overall athleticism are why he was my top defenseman this year. It is also notable that this was the pick that Columbus acquired when they traded away star blueliner Seth Jones last summer.
Team Fit: The fact that the Blue Jackets went with defensemen in their two top-12 picks is a bit of a surprise, but shows how much they value building a blue line. Mateychuk was my no. 3 defenseman available and he fits right into the kind of D corps Columbus is building. Adding him to Werenski, Jiricek and last year's first-rounder Corson Ceulemans, this Columbus blue line is going to be super skilled. Mateychuk could provide tremendous value as a potential No. 4 Dman.
Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers gave Columbus the best grade possible.
My writeup on the #CBJ draft will drop on Saturday with full thoughts. So far, grade = A+. Didn't lose any assets and got two of the best defensemen in this draft.
— Mark Scheig (@markscheig) July 8, 2022
Overall, it seems like the Jackets hit a home run last night, which makes it back-to-back successful first rounds. If Jiricek and Mateychuk will be as good as these analysts think they will be, Columbus should be serious contenders sooner rather than later.
