Two weeks have passed since then The Detroit Red Wings have four players down at the close – that’s not a lot of time – but enough for at least one of those players to make an impression.
Jakub Vrana, whose two turbulent years with the Wings were marked by turmoil, has scored four goals in five games since a difficult start to his stint with the St. Louis Blues (he was killed on March 3 deadline morning and the winter storm traded). covering much of the country that day meant he was delaying the Blues who were on a trip to the west coast at the time).
Vrana scored twice on Wednesday and gave him four goals in the last four games. He was forced to wear a full-face mask after hitting a skate blade in the face while skating that morning.
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Vrana achieved similar numbers with the Wings: 8 goals in 11 games after reaching the 2021 trade deadline, as Yzerman acquired Vrana, a 2021 first-round pick and a 202 second-round pick from the Washington Capitals for Anthony Mantha. Vrana followed in 2021/22 with 13 goals in 26 games.
But talented as he was, Vrana’s time with the Wings was marked by absences. He showed up late to camp in 2021 and left the ice after 10 minutes with a shoulder injury that had plagued since the end of the previous season. He needed surgery and didn’t play until March 1st.
That season, he was accepted into the Player Assistance Program on October 15 and reinstated on December 16. He played two games before and scored once and three games after, scoring one goal in five games.
On March 3, the Wings agreed to keep 50% of Vrana’s contract, which runs from 2023-2024 and has a salary cap of $5.25 million. The return was a seventh-round pick in 2025 and a minor-league player — basically as little as possible. Yzerman kept his comments limited at the time.
“I don’t think I can really go into much detail about a lot of the things that happened,” Yzerman said. “I would just say I wish Jakub the best of luck in his hockey career and on and off the ice. It was just time for both parties to move on.”
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The Blues, who the Wings play Tuesday in St. Louis and host on March 23, are 2-3 since acquiring Vrana, but the Blues went to the draft lottery before the deadline.
The Boston Bruins, on the other hand, wanted Tyler Bertuzzi to improve their playoff chances. Yzerman finalized this deal on the morning of March 2, agreeing to keep 50% of Bertuzzi’s salary (his contract expires at the end of the season). for a conditional first-round pick in the 2024 NHL draft (top-10 protected) and a fourth-round pick in 2025.
Bertuzzi had an assist on his debut and another assist on Wednesday that gave him two points in five games. The Bruins are 2-3 since taking over from Bertuzzi and just suffered their first consecutive regular losses of the season, one of which was on Sunday when they lost to the Wings.
Yzerman also traded top-four defender Filip Hronek and a 2023 fourth-round pick for a conditional first-round pick (it becomes an unprotected 2024 first-round pick if he’s in the top 12 this year) and a second-round pick -Pick in 2023 draft. Hronek has yet to play for the Canucks because he left the last game he played with the Wings, on Oct. 28 with the Ottawa Senators, with an injury. The Canucks were also headed to the draft lottery.
That leaves Oskar Sundqvist, who was dealt to the Minnesota Wild just before the deadline for a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft. He scored his first goal in a Wild jersey in Wednesday’s 8-5 win over Vrana’s Blues. Sundqvist has recorded one goal and two assists in five games with the Wild, who are fighting for first place in the Central Division.
Contact Helene St James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings Newsletter. Her latest book, On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft, is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph books. Personalized copies available via your email.
This article originally appeared on the Detroit Free Press: Jakub Vrana blossomed two weeks after the Detroit Red Wings traded him
Source : sports.yahoo.com