Czechia receives bad news regarding the status of top 2022 ranked defenceman David Jiricek
During Czechia's opening game of the 2022 World Juniors, defenceman David Jiricek was injured following a collision with Team Canada forward Will Cuylle. Jiricek was helped up by teammates, left for the locker room and did not return.
David Jiříček down injured pic.twitter.com/Lxsj6C4sIj— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) December 27, 2021
On Monday afternoon, TSN's Bob McKenzie revealed that Jiricek, who is currently the top ranked defenceman for the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, will miss the remainder of the World Juniors with a knee injury. McKenzie also mentioned that it appears Jiricek isn't as serious as initially thought and he will likely return for his CzechExtraliga club, Plzen HC, at some point this season.
"Nothing official yet from CZE but sounds like defenceman David Jiricek, a top-10 prospect for the 2022 NHL draft, suffered a knee injury yesterday vs Canada that will take him out of the rest of the WJC," McKenzie said.
He added, "The only positive, relatively speaking, on the Jiricek injury is that it at first appeared it could have been much worse. The sense seems to be that it's weeks as opposed to months and he will be able to resume play this season."
The 18-year-old has appeared in 29 games this season for Plzen HC, where he's recorded eleven points (five goals, six assists), 49 penalty minutes and is a +/-0. Jiricek is expected to be selected in the top-ten of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
The only positive, relatively speaking, on the Jiricek injury is that it at first appeared it could have been much worse. The sense seems to be that it's weeks as opposed to months and he will be able to resume play this season.— Bobby Margarita (@TSNBobMcKenzie) December 27, 2021
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||