The Blue Jackets are off to a hot start in this NHL season, on the backs of many of their young skilled players. The exciting thing here is, the team still has a nice bounty of prospects coming along as well, even after trading David Jiricek over the weekend. One of those prospects - defenseman Charlie Elick - may actually be part of the reason the team felt comfortable moving their recent 6th overall selection.
Skating for the Western Hockey League's Brandon Wheat Kings, Elick is a sort of square peg in a square hole. He's a throwback to WHL defensemen of yesteryear. An old school defense-first defenseman who uses his 6'4", 200+ pound frame to punish the opposition at any given circumstance.
But don't let his size and toughness fool you. Elick is a terrific skater, one who can keep pace with speedy forwards whether he's moving backwards or laterally. This skating, combined with his range and physicality, makes him a projectable shutdown defender at the NHL level. In short, he's everything Jiricek is not.
Don Waddell certainly has a preferred archetype for his defensemen. Skating seems to be key #1.
Elick was taken by the Jackets in the second round (#36 overall) at the 2024 NHL Draft, beginning a run that saw the team use four of its final five picks on big defensemen, all of whom could skate. Three of the four are right-hand shots, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that their addition played a part in the team's comfort level dealing Jiricek away.
As we mentioned a few moments ago, Elick is not going to replace what Jiricek brought to the organization offensively. Through 22 WHL games, he has just 6 points (all assists) so far this season. He likely won't ever put up many points, and that's just fine. He typically choose to take the smart, safe play and get the puck off of his stick quickly.
I think at his top-end, he's probably a second pairing shutdown guy who can throw the gloves off and win a fight from time to time. It's tough to find a direct comparison because he's a pretty unique player, but if I had to compare him to anyone, New York Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller is probably the best recent choice. Elick plays the game a little bit meaner, but otherwise he has a lot of the same traits (skating, size, etc).
Elick will play out this year, and likely next year, back with the Wheat Kings. Even after that, I think he'll need 1-2 years of seasoning in the AHL before he's ready to make the jump to the NHL. So, don't be surprised if this is a name we're talking about for the next three or four years before we see him play full-time.