In a surprising move, Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings placed forward Jakub Vrana on waivers exposing the top six forward to the rest of the league until 2 pm ET time tomorrow.
The move in part was made to make room for Robby Fabbri who’s set to come off the IR after a long-term knee injury kept him sidelined since last season.
Though, much of the attention is on Vrana and the possibility he’s lost for nothing since coming of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program at the beginning of December.
So what’s behind the move?
First, it’s already been mentioned that Vrana needs more conditioning before making his return to the big club, something head coach Derek Lalonde essentially confirmed Monday when Vrana’s stint in Grand Rapids was extended for three more games this week. To me, this seems like the more plausible scenario and a risk the team is willing to make given Vrana’s contract. Currently, Vrana has a $5.25 million AAV over the next two seasons, a tough pill to swallow for any team looking to pick up the contact, especially considering he’s played in just 78 games over the past three seasons.
Second, there’s a bigger issue here with Vrana that we simply don’t know about and won’t know about until the potential dust has settled.
The bottom line, it’s a surprising move nonetheless, but it may be equally as surprising if anyone actually kicks the tires on picking him up before tomorrow’s deadline.