Red Wings Get Unlucky Losing Jakub Vrana For 4 Months

The Detroit Red Wings were not delivered good news this week as forward Jakub Vrana is going to be out for some time. Red Wings’ head coach Jeff Blashill announced that Vrana will require shoulder surgery and be out a minimum of four months. Needless to say, this is not exactly how the Red Wings had hoped to kick off the 2021-22 NHL season.

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Blashill said of the news: “He’s had some issues with it, went through the summer rehabbing and ultimately aggravated (it) … Ultimately on a lot of these, surgery is the last option and I think Jakub, he thought he could get through the season and unfortunately he couldn’t.”

GM Steve Yzerman was looking forward to this being a potential turnaround year for the club. They were among the worst teams in NHL history this past season, but they are also a rebuilding club. Vrana came to the team as part of a trade that saw Anthony Mantha moved to the Washington Capitals and Vrana played well for the Wings, scoring 11 points in 11 games ( 8 goals).

Vrana was signed to a new three-year, $15.75 million contract with the Red Wings last month and he was expected to be a huge part of the offensive attack. This news means, not only will the team be without one of their top scorers, they’ll have to manage as Tyler Bertuzzi misses some games (he’s elected not to get the vaccine).

The Red Wings might try to find a way to make up for the loss by committee, but it’s still a loss that will be hard to swallow. In fact, it could mean the Red Wings get off to a tough start and wind up an NHL Draft Lottery team again.

Silver Lining for the Red Wings

If you’re a Red Wings fan and trying to find the silver lining in all of this, it’s that the kids are going to get a long look this season and there could be a couple of diamonds in the prospect system to step up.

So too, one would expect that Bobby Ryan will get a contract offer. He’s currently with the team on a PTO.

Next: Jack Campbell Says There Are No Excuses for Maple Leafs This Season