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Insider Says Relationship Between Red Wings and Jakub Vrana 'feels broken'

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Jon
January 8, 2023  (9:23 PM)
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The general reaction when the Detroit Red Wings placed forward Jakub Vrana on waivers earlier this week was shock.

Vrana, a 26-year old 25-goal scorer, was offered up to the rest of the NHL for free, and more surprising than that was the fact that no one stepped up to claim him. As puzzling as it was, the simple fact was that 90% of the NHL couldn't afford Vrana's $5M+ salary, and the ones that could are actively trying to Tank Hard for Bedard.

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Just before landing on waivers, Vrana had completed a tour through the NHL's Player Assistance Program due to reported alcohol-related issues. In a brief, three-game conditioning stint with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL, Vrana went pointless, which likely had something to do with the decision to waive him.

Insider Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff said the other day that the relationship between team and player feels broken, and wonders if a trade lies in the immediate future.

"I think a lot of people found it distasteful to be placed on waivers 18 days after going through the player assistance program. I'll tell you this, it's intrigued a lot of teams and I spoke to one team yesterday who was internally meeting about possibly trading for Vrana. The suggestion I made was, it sort of feels like that relationship is indeed broken; why not offer up a deal that involves Detroit retaining $1.8 or $1.9 million or whatever the number is that equates to a buyout for Vrana? Maybe that's something that would be palatable for Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings if they could get something back in return for him. So for that team you don't take Vrana on at full price, you get him for a bit of a discount on the cap and a player that can contribute in a big way if you treat him the right when it comes to Stanley Cup playoff time."

A deal as Seravalli describes is certainly plausible, although it's unclear that there's a club out there willing to fork up an asset for Vrana when he was just available for free. The salary cap is a legitimate hurdle, so perhaps there's a deal to be made before the trade deadline on March 3.

Source: The Daily Faceoff

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Insider Says Relationship Between Red Wings and Jakub Vrana 'feels broken'

If you were Steve Yzerman, would you trade Vrana or try to restore the relationship?

Trade him10257.6 %
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