The Red Wings playing hardball with RFA Jakub Vrana ahead of arbitration this week

With salary arbitration cases being heard starting this week and over the next couple of weeks, the Detroit Red Wings and RFA winger Jakub Vrana appear to still be quite far apart in their negotiations.

Per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the ask from the Jakub Vrana camp is $5.7M per season, while the team prefers a $3.65M AAV. Vrana is coming off of a two-year deal that saw him earn just $3.35M per season.

While it's still possible that the two sides can make up some ground over the course of the next two days and strike a deal prior to Vrana's arbitration hearing on August 11th, the gap between the player's ask and the team's offer remains quite large.

Vrana came over to the Red Wings at the trade deadline this past season as the primary piece, along with veteran Richard Panik and a pair of draft picks, in a deal that saw Anthony Mantha heading back the other way to the Washington Capitals.

Vrana is coming off of a 19-goal, 36-point season, during which time he played 50 games, splitting time between the Capitals and the Red Wings.

A shrewd negotiator, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman has shown in the past his ability to get players locked up for less than market value, so there are certainly a lot of folks who are interested in seeing how this situation unfolds.

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