Main Photo: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
News has broken today that the Detroit Red Wings have traded their left winger. They traded Jakub Vrana to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Dylan McLaughlin and a 2025 seventh-round draft pick. Vrana would look to get some ice time for the Blues to round out the 2022-23 season. He should have some opportunity to get quality playing time. This is given the recent moves the Blues have made, such as trading Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko.
UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today acquired a 7th round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and center Dylan McLaughlin from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for left wing Jakub Vrana. pic.twitter.com/7mFmPX9iaK
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 3, 2023
Jakub Vrana Trade Finally Occurs
Vrana, the recently turned 27-year-old, is personally looking to have a bounce back. In 2014, he was taken in the first round of the draft by the Washington Capitals. His best season was in 2019-20, when playing for the Capitals he tallied 25 goals and 27 assists in 69 games. However, this year he has had some difficulties. As a result, he ended up clearing waivers and spent some time with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. To his credit, he put in the work and had a respectable six goals and five assists in 17 games played. Thus far with the Red Wings, he has only one goal and one assist in 5 games.
What This Means for the Blues
This could be a win-win situation for the Blues. With their position in the standings this year, this will be a good chance for Vrana to step into a low-pressure situation. Furthermore, perhaps he can be given some power play to recapture the scoring touch he had with the Capitals. Moreover, the contributing factor of Detroit retaining half of his salary made it a comfortable move for the Blues.
What This Means for the Red Wings
Right now, the Red Wings find themselves entrenched in the log jam that is the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Ninth through 13th are separated by an amazing one point. This could be an opener move to make a splash in today’s trade deadline. On the other hand, it could be a move for the off-season. Detroit just traded Tyler Bertuzzi to the Boston Bruins, so they cannot be considered buyers you would think. However, this is the trade deadline, and with so much activity over the past few weeks, anything can come down the pipe today.
