Sportsnet 590 The FAN: Aaron Portzline on the Kyper & Bourne show talking about the Columbus Blue Jackets and how they are (mis)handling some of their young players like David Jiricek and Adam Fantilli.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Justin Bourne: “You know, when I think of all these things you sort of laid out for us, the ones that feel that most, the GM would be most responsible for is, this Jiricek one. Where, you know, you know, this seems like their own doing.
A player is frustrated, doesn’t understand, doesn’t feel like they’re getting the opportunity. And I read the Jiricek quotes where he compared himself to Simon Nemac and another young player who are getting …”
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Nick Kypreos: “Korchinski in Chicago.”
Bourne: “Korchinski. He’s getting, they’re getting the opportunity and he isn’t. Is that fair that he’s comparing himself to those guys at this point?”
Portzline: “Well, I think it is, and I think the other part of that comparison is, you know, where are these, where are these teams in the standings? Certainly, Korchinski is probably a better comparison.
Like, what is this season about at this point? And I think this is the fans frustration too. It’s like, you know, they just play the game in Edmonton and Connor McDavid is there. Adam Fantilli goes through the entire game playing on the left wing without taking any face-offs in that game. And to me, I’m saying that is such a missed opportunity …”
Bourne: “Yeah.”
Portzline: “… right there. These games don’t matter now from a win-loss perspective. How can you maximize the importance of these games? What can you get out of these games to use these to your best benefit? David Jiricek was a healthy scratch in that game. Sat in the press box and Edmonton. So next time they play Edmonton, it will be the first time David Jiricek understands that he’s in that game. Understands the gap you have to take, you hear defenseman talk about this all the time with McDavid. It’s just different to be on the ice with him and, and now he still doesn’t know.
Now, Adam Fantilli has gone through that game. Maybe they’ll play against him in March when the Oilers are in Nationwide and it just feels like a wasted opportunity. And there’s been so many games like this where nothing against Adam or Andrew Peeke, nothing against Jake Bean, but you know who those guys are. And Jiricek is the future this francise not Bean, not Peeke. I mean, they could stick around for a few years. Again, nothing against them. But this is your top dog.
I don’t have a problem honestly, if they would have made the decision at the start of the season. He’s going to play in the AHL. But from a managerial standpoint, it makes no sense to play him that 10th game, as they did pretty early, engaged the first year of his contract, and it makes zero sense.
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It almost seems like you’re messing with a guy to tell him to get a place. He has an apartment sitting empty in Columbus now while he’s living in a hotel in Cleveland. To tell a player to get a place, it’s such a big moment at a young player’s career that says you’ve made it. And I know teams typically don’t have that conversation until it is abundantly clear that the players gonna stick. To say that, to tell the player that and then boom back to the AHL. It does, it feels a lot herky jerky. I think the Jiricek camp has taken some of it personally and I’m not sure why that would be.”