While hockey fans everywhere are still recovering from their Black Friday shopping sprees, there's a trade to announce between the Eastern and Western Conference.

The Minnesota Wild are acquiring David Jiricek from the Columbus Blue Jackets along with a fifth-round Draft selection, and in return are sending Daemon Hunt, a 2025 first-round pick, a 2027 second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick back to Columbus.

Shortly after being acquired by the Wild, they assigned him to their American Hockey League affiliate Iowa Wild.

This marks a fresh start for Jiricek, who had been vocal about being unhappy at how he was being utilized by the Jackets.

His new Wild teammates will be taking on the Nashville Predators on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center.

Ex-Blue Jackets defenseman David Jiricek gets a fresh start with the Wild

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman David Jiricek (55) looks for a rebound in front of goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (90) during the first period against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden
Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
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He was openly vocal about being displeased at how the Blue Jackets were handling his career, stating his belief that he should be getting more playing time, via The Hockey News.

I see guys from the same draft, like Simon Nemec (in New Jersey) and (Kevin) Korchinski (in Chicago), they get a chance on the power play,” he said. They play a ton of minutes in the NHL. Those are different teams, so different situations, but I can compare with them. I just want a chance to play like that.”

“They told me the last game was not good enough for me,” Jiricek said. “I told them I don’t think so, but that’s your opinion. I was out of the lineup after that. A whole month now, it feels like I haven’t played.”

Drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft by the Blue Jackets, he only played in 43 games in the 2023-24 season, scoring once while adding nine assists. So far in 2024-25, he's appeared in only six games, registering a single assist.

In 53 career NHL games, he's scored once with 10 assists along with a -10 rating and 28 PIM.