Jakub Vrana placed on waivers by Red Wings

[mormerod]

I doubt ANA looks at him. They are in the Blow Hard for Bedard zone. If anyone takes him, it would be a middling team trying to get/keep a playoff spot. Min, Col, and Buf are the three most intriguing options.

[mormerod]

Det. doesn't have cap issues, just needed to clear a roster spot for Fabbri. They could have sent down anyone.

[mormerod]

I'm not sure of that. It's a higher salary for someone that has played so few games recently, but there are teams that have the space and may be looking to gain/keep a playoff spot. Colorado, Buffalo, and Minnesota all could have an interest. They certainly have the need and the means.

[Pengwin7]

I'm speculating that Yzerman/Detroit are looking forward to center depth and would like the cap space. Vrana is a big clear at $5.25m.
I agree with others, competing teams don't have cap space and "tank" teams don't need Vrana's upside.

re: DET cap space.
I think Bo Horvat would be an incredible veteran fit for Detroit, especially with Detroit (for some reason) not yet securing Dylan Larkin on an extension.
Detroit could make a play to bring him in this year - maybe make run at playoffs - but probably not - but mostly see if they can lock him down longterm.
Horvat & wife have ties to Southern Ontario area. Detroit is very close.
Most teams need to fairly high-end centers to make a serious contention run: C1/C2 in Horvat/Larkin would work well.
I think Detroit could possibly sign both at $8m... but Larkin not having an extension yet is a concern and maybe StevieY feels a need to bring in somebody now.

[Axeman33]

I'm speculating that Yzerman/Detroit are looking forward to center depth and would like the cap space. Vrana is a big clear at $5.25m.
I agree with others, competing teams don't have cap space and "tank" teams don't need Vrana's upside.

re: DET cap space.
I think Bo Horvat would be an incredible veteran fit for Detroit, especially with Detroit (for some reason) not yet securing Dylan Larkin on an extension.
Detroit could make a play to bring him in this year - maybe make run at playoffs - but probably not - but mostly see if they can lock him down longterm.
Horvat & wife have ties to Southern Ontario area. Detroit is very close.
Most teams need to fairly high-end centers to make a serious contention run: C1/C2 in Horvat/Larkin would work well.
I think Detroit could possibly sign both at $8m... but Larkin not having an extension yet is a concern and maybe StevieY feels a need to bring in somebody now.

I'm sure you know this, but by sending Vrana to the minors (assuming he clears), they are only clearing roughly $1.2M of his $5.25M from their books against the cap.

Now if someone claims him, that's a different story but by sending him down to the AHL, there's still roughly $4M on the Wings books while he's in the minors.

[2014olympicgold]

The max buried cap hit is:
NHL Min Salary + $375,000

So this yr it's $750,000+$375,000 = $1,125,000. Next yr it raises to $1,150,000 till 2026-27 season.

Something some people forget too, but if Vrana is claimed and other teams place a claim on him but are too low on the waiver list, if the claiming team wants to trade him, the teams who placed a claim in on him originally get first dibs. So if you are a claiming team, you might not actually be able to trade him for assets. Small wrinkle.

[agentzero]

Re-entry waivers was removed 10 years ago

Have I been asleep that long?…


After reading more yesterday I saw it suggested they’d leave him there for the balance of his K? I can’t see that happening or Vrana being up for that. If it was headed to buyout I could see that being initiated by Vrana to cut loose and try his luck at min salary with another team.. and if nothing works, head overseas.

I don’t see a team trading for him unless DET retains 50%.

[Fighting_Emu]

The strange wrinkle for me is that vrana asked for the extension to stay longer in grand rapids which i believe is pretty rare. I'm not saying he didn't need it with 0 points and minus 5 in three games but in the right light it almost looks like he was hesitant to return to Detroit.

It sticks out - as one poster said if he just went to get Yzerman off his back then going to face the music again would be a pain in the ass.

On the other side of the spectrum where my brain went was that with addiction and recovery you try to minimize contact with the people places and situations where your use was the worst. If that is Detroit or someone in Detroit for vrana- thats actually a pretty good reason to hesitate. Not saying Yzerman has any responsibility to be "ok" with that but as he said in his own press conference there are more Important issues in life than hockey. Its life and death...

So maybe its a sign hes not taking his new lifestyle seriously or a sign hes taking it extremely seriously lmao! I maintain he needs to be selfish here. From everything I've read hes a great guy, hard working, humble- if he's gonna get back on track he might ruffle a few feathers while.doing it but im sorry to say- cest la vie. I think he's a great ayer and pretty well underrated but honestly with this kind of stuff you just hope he can survive and you deal with the rest after...

[Pengwin7]

I'm sure you know this, but by sending Vrana to the minors (assuming he clears), they are only clearing roughly $1.2M of his $5.25M from their books against the cap.
Now if someone claims him, that's a different story but by sending him down to the AHL, there's still roughly $4M on the Wings books while he's in the minors.

I actually can NEVER keep track of all the cap rules. (So... NO!... can't say I knew)
But I think it is to DET's benefit to see if anybody will take him off their hands... in hopes somebody makes a claim.

[2014olympicgold]

He Cleared.

This helps the Wings open up a roster spot for Fabbri to return, and helps Vrana get back up to NHL conditioning if he decides to accept the demotion.

[pmorrow]

Assigned to Grand Rapids.

[Fighting_Emu]

Wow- ok so now all the narratives seem to be changing (not comainjng- its a to the good by me) and it seems like this might have been done for vranas benefit so he can get back on track. If thats the case thats brilliant- I've got all the time in the world for that. If this is headed towards compliancy buyout I guess we'll know soon enough but reading the tea leaves right this second it doesn't feel like thats where this is headed...

[RenegadeGM]

So those of you with him in cap leagues... are you cutting him now while you can get out from under his salary? Demoting to minors and holding? Waiting to see if he's bought out and joins a new team?

[ericdaoust]

In a cap league I'd dump him now. Too much cap space for such a high risk.

[Fighting_Emu]

Herm- cap leagues are not my forte so I'm not going to disagree but ill add a few reasons for optimism.

In my old cap format we were looking for 10 points per million. Even with injuries I think 55 is a safe bet for vrana AND its a sog and goal heavy stat line as well. He got there in Washington with like 14 minutes a night and negative inyereger of powerplay time lol! Ill add that he's got the raw skill to substantially outperform that. Hes shown with halfway credible linemates and just average powerplay time that he can do a ppg with 30 plus goals. So thats the upside- if you have to scrap it thats your call but for me I am consistently caught off guard by how people view his contract- if he's healthy its a bargain- and whats nice for a band aid boy is that even if you fa tor in I juries its still pretty on par with where you want it. The only situation its an anchor is if he loses significant time to I jury and if you're convinced he will then yea you might as well drop him but outside of that I feel like the gamble makes sense here.

Second I was initially worried about how this would affect his rehabillitation/mental health but if this sticks this is the best direction you could ask for. It means hes taking his rehabilitation extremely seriously which is not always the case. I actually think the way this played out is the absolute best outcome for his long term prognosis. I'm not saying that means he'll have success or success right away but uts a great sign!