Octopus Thrower’s very own Delaney Rimer could barely hide her enthusiasm when Jakub Vrana shed the blue non-contact jersey. How will she and Red Wings fans do seeing this today from Ansar Khan:
#RedWings Vrana didn’t take part in line rushes but got in a couple reps with the second power-play unit. pic.twitter.com/zr2dD7bfUv
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) February 25, 2022
That would be Vrana, skating freely and practicing with the second power play unit during today’s practice.
Let the excitement hit a fever pitch.
Vrana will Help an Improved Offense
Lost in a season that has featured Moritz Seider emerging into what appears to be a star and Lucas Raymond being a forward every Red Wings fan could have hoped for, the Red Wings have produced a better offensive season than expected. Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin are legitimate goal scorers and other guys like Robby Fabbri, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Pius Suter have chipped in this season, too.
All for it, the”re 19th in the league in scoring, a dramatic increase from last season (30th), 2019-20 (31st) and their best showing since being 16th in 2015-16, the last time they made the playoffs.
Vrana returning should only build on this and having him an entire season (presumably) next season will be another step in the right direction. Not to mention, Filip Zadina is also looking better and that will only strengthen with a healthy Vrana in the lineup.
So about that Red Wings Schedule…
Delaney was all over this earlier today and she’s right, it’s going to be tough sledding. However, it’s more the long view right now than anything else. The Red Wings need to show poise and hang in with a team like the Leafs, much like they did in the 7-4 game where they ended up surrendering the lead and the game in the third period.
The playoffs most likely won’t happen, and the opportunity to get a top five pick might also not happen, but it’s about learning from each game, building on it, and gelling as a team. There’s no doubt that general manager Steve Yzerman is still assessing what moves to make next.
Said it once, and I’ll say it again: it’s almost as fun watching what Yzerman does as it is watching the team on the ice.