Former Red Wing Winger Vrana Clears Waivers with St. Louis; GM Says "It Felt Like We Were Derailing Jakub's Career"
The St. Louis Blues waived Jakub Vrana, and the former Red Wing winger cleared Wednesday
Former Detroit Red Wing winger Jakub Vrana was waived by the St. Louis Blues earlier this week and cleared waivers yesterday, shrouding the future of his career in uncertainty.
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said of the decision to waive Vrana, "I've talked to the player, I've talked to the representative, and there becomes a point where you start to feel like you're hampering a guy's career. He wants to play hockey, and it wasn't working here for whatever reason, and I just felt I'm gonna see if I can find you a new home where you're going to get that fresh opportunity to play...It felt like we were derailing Jakub's career...and I hope he goes and plays well somewhere."
In that statement, Armstrong alluded to the fact that Vrana—who has played in just 19 of St. Louis' 28 games this season—has been a frequent healthy scratch for the Blues. Detroit sent Vrana to St. Louis last March in exchange for a 2025 7th round pick and AHL prospect Dylan McGlaughlin (who has not remained with the organization). At the moment, he is averaging 12:18 a night with two goals and four assists in those 19 games.
Vrana showed flashes of promise in his Red Wing career, scoring 22 goals and giving 10 assists in 42 games spread across parts of three seasons. However, the Czech winger struggled with injuries and also spent time in the NHL's Player Assistance Program, which combined to make it difficult for Vrana to prove his long-term value to the organization, having arrived in Detroit at the 2021 trade deadline in a deal that sent Anthony Mantha to the Washington Capitals.
Now that a third different team has decided to move on from Vrana, despite his obvious offense gifts (namely, a lightning bolt of a shot and tremendous skating), his NHL future is murky. As Armstrong mentioned, the Blues tried to find a trade partner for Vrana but could not, which led to him being placed on waivers.
In a post-COVID cap-strapped NHL, it's become common place to see talented players pass through waivers unclaimed (it happened to Vrana when he was with the Red Wings), so not being claimed doesn't mean there isn't a single team with any interest in him. However, now that he is 27 years old, the clock is ticking on Vrana's prime.
Though a theoretical possibility, a reunion with the Red Wings would seem highly unlikely, given it was just a year ago Steve Yzerman decided Vrana did not make sense as a long-term piece in Detroit's rebuild.
Here's to hoping Vrana finds that long-term fit quickly at his next destination, wherever it might be.
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