David Jiricek and Mikael Pyyhtia re-assigned to the Cleveland Monsters, what does it all mean?

One thing was guaranteed this week: the Blue Jackets were going to make a roster move to clear a spot for Kent Johnson. What we didn't expect to see, was two players sent to the AHL. That's what happened today, with both David Jiricek and Mikael Pyyhtia sent to the Cleveland Monsters. What does it all mean?

David Jiricek needs more seasoning...

Unless you've been living under a rock, or at least completely off the grid; you're well aware of the David Jiricek situation with the Blue Jackets. His story has been brooding in the undertones of hockey news for much of the early part of this season, with a lot of fans and media asking what the plan was for David.

Taken sixth overall by the Blue Jackets at the 2022 NHL Draft, Jiricek has since been considered one of the top defense prospects in all of hockey. But in the early part of this season, on a team that desperately needs help on its blue line; David only managed to get into 6 of the first 18 Blue Jacket games - averaging just 11:12 per appearance.

Whether you've watched the games or not, it's been pretty obvious that he just isn't ready for the big time. In those six games, he scored just one assist, posted a -2 rating; and was caved in on a regular basis. It would have been easy for the team to send him down weeks ago, if not for his reaction to playing in the AHL last season.

As such, him spending time in the press box had a lot of people wondering if the team might try to deal him. Instead, he heads back to Cleveland, where he should almost certainly star on the top pairing alongside Denton Mateychuk, who is absolutely shredding that league. They can play him 20 minutes per night, in all situations, with an eye towards calming his overall game down.

Our only hope here is that Don Waddell had much better communication with David and his agent than the previous GM did. Him heading to the AHL and playing with the right attitude, is the best possible outcome to this situation. He needs to develop and get better on both sides of the puck, before getting another crack at an NHL job.

Mikael Pyyhtia was the biggest surprise out of training camp...

Not many people had Mikael Pyyhtia on the opening night roster for the Blue Jackets. But, he shocked us all, and even started the season playing top-six minutes. While he didn't put up big numbers, he got into 17 games, even tallying his first career NHL goal on October 28th.

Since then, however, he seemed to fall out of favor with Dean Evason, to the point where he wound up a healthy scratch in their last game. That doesn't mean he did anything wrong. In fact, I think it had more to do with the team mixing things up, trying to get out of a scoring slump. The improved play of veterans like Zach Aston-Reese, James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Labanc were probably the final nail in the coffin here.

All of this points to Kent Johnson returning tomorrow night against Tampa Bay. That means there will no longer be a job on a scoring line; so like Jiricek, Pyyhtia is better suited playing big minutes in the AHL for the time being.

Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how this team handles recalls. Naturally, there are going to be more injuries, which will create opportunities at some point. Will Jiricek and Pyyhtia be amongst the first recalls? Or, might the team decide on replacement level players, allowing these two to develop further? I wouldn't be surprised either way.