Detroit Red Wings News: Jakub Vrana recalled; Lucas Raymond to IR

The Detroit Red Wings have recalled forward Jakub Vrana from the Grand Rapids Griffins. To make room for the skillful winger, the organization placed forward Lucas Raymond on Injured Reserve retroactive to February 10th. Raymond was injured in practice after colliding with defenseman Ben Chiarot. The Red Wings are calling it a lower-body injury.

This is somewhat of an unforeseen move for the Detroit Red Wings, who seemed all but done with Vrana just a month or so ago after placing him on waivers and assigning him to Grand Rapids. Vrana didn’t exactly get off to a great start with the Griffins, recording one assist in his first eight games, leading to head coach Ben Simon electing to make him a healthy scratch for a pair of games.

Over the past couple of weeks, Vrana has caught fire with the Griffins scoring six goals and ten points over his last nine games.

Jakub Vrana gets another chance to stick with the Detroit Red Wings.

Earlier this season, Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now made an interesting point. One can’t help but wonder if Yzerman’s decision to place Vrana on waivers originates from the start of last season.

If you recall, Vrana injured his shoulder just ten minutes into training camp. The injury sidelined Vrana most of the season, limiting him to 26 games. In those games, Vrana continued to prove that he could be an elite-level scorer netting 13 goals and 26 points. During his time with Detroit, that has become very evident. In parts of three seasons with the Red Wings, Vrana has appeared in 39 games totaling 22 goals and 32 points.

Allen mentioned that before the shoulder injury in camp last season, doctors had recommended surgery during the previous offseason, but Vrana opted for rehabilitation. The injury followed, and that disappointed the Red Wings. I will say this, Yzerman isn’t someone who forgets, and he isn’t scared to make what many of us consider a controversial move.

The best-case scenario for Detroit is hoping Vrana performs exceptionally well for the Detroit Red Wings over the next couple of weeks, perhaps convincing Yzerman that he can be a key contributor to the organization moving forward.

At the very least, Vrana will have an opportunity to showcase his skill set, perhaps allowing the Red Wings to trade him ahead of the March 3rd NHL Trade Deadline. For this to take place, the Red Wings will presumably need to retain some of Vrana’s $5.25 million cap hit for the remainder of this season and next.