Blue Jackets recall three defensemen from Monsters

Nov 11, 2022

The Cleveland Monsters announced Friday that the Columbus Blue Jackets added defensemen Gavin Bayreuther, Marcus Bjork and David Jiricek to the club’s roster from the Monsters under emergency conditions. In one appearance for Columbus this season, Bayreuther posted an even rating and added 0-4-4 with two penalty minutes and a +1 rating in four appearances for Cleveland. In 11 appearances for the Monsters this year, the first action of his North American professional career, Bjork contributed 2-3-5 with four penalty minutes and a +1 rating.

 

A 6’1”, 196 lb. left-shooting native of Concord, NH, Bayreuther, 28, supplied 3-11-14 with 39 penalty minutes and a +1 rating in 72 career NHL appearances for the Dallas Stars and Columbus spanning parts of four seasons from 2018-19 and 2020-22. In 221 career AHL appearances for the Texas Stars and the Monsters spanning parts of seven seasons from 2016-22, Bayreuther contributed 25-85-110 with 120 penalty minutes and a +1 rating.

 

Prior to his professional career, Bayreuther supplied 35-76-111 with 92 penalty minutes and a +24 rating in 142 career NCAA appearances for St. Lawrence University spanning four seasons from 2013-16. Bayreuther was named to the NCAA (East) Second All-American Team in 2015-16 and 2016-17, the 2015-16 and 2016-17 ECAC First All-Star Teams, as well as the 2015-16 ECAC All-Tournament Team, the 2013-14 ECAC All-Rookie Team, and the 2013-14 ECAC Second All-Star Team. Bayreuther also collected 2013-14 ECAC Rookie of the Year honors.

 

A 6’3”, 203 lb. right-shooting native of Umea, Sweden, Bjork, 24, registered 17-47-64 with 98 penalty minutes and a -23 rating in 204 appearances for Orebro HK, the Malmo Redhawks, and Brynas IF in Sweden’s SHL spanning four seasons from 2018-22. Prior to his professional career, Bjork logged 1-2-3 with six penalty minutes and a -1 rating in eight appearances for the USHL’s Omaha Lancers in 2016-17.

 

A 6’3”, 189 lb. right-shooting native of Klatovy, Czechia, Jiricek, 18, was selected by the Blue Jackets in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. In 67 appearances for Plzen HC in the Czech Extraliga spanning parts of three seasons from 2019-22, Jiricek logged 8-12-20 with 85 penalty minutes and a +14 rating and was named the Extraliga’s 2020-21 Rookie of the Year. Internationally, Jiricek represented Czechia at the 2020-21 and 2021-22 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships and helped Czechia claim the Bronze Medal at the 2021-22 IIHF World Championship.

 

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