SUNRISE, Fla. — Jakub Vrana is coming through.
He recorded his fourth two-goal performance this week, and did it playing the two-way game that wins.
The Detroit Red Wings, trying to finish another playoff-less season on a positive, have had Vrana on their payroll for more than a year but they’ve been limited in what they’ve seen: He played 11 games after arriving at the 2021 trade deadline and missed the first 56 games this season recovering from shoulder surgery.
He scored eight times down the stretch last season, and has 12 goals in 21 games this season. That adds up to the Wings potentially having their first 40-goal scorer in more than a decade.
“If he chooses, he can be a 40-goal scorer all day long,” coach Jeff Blashill said.
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Blashill was effusive about Vrana’s performance after Tuesday’s 4-3 victory at the Tampa Bay Lightning, emphasizing how complete of a performance Vrana put on as he scored twice for the fourth time this season.
“He was excellent in every facet of the game,” Blashill said. “I wasn’t worried at all about who he was on the ice against because he checked great, he worked hard, he won battles. He was good on the wall. That’s a little bit personified by the breakaway goal — he does a good job defensively, and he goes down and scores. He’s as a good a goal scorer as I’ve been around and I’ve been around some great, great players.”
The Wings haven’t had a 40-goal scorer since Marian Hossa in 2008-09. Vrana, 26, combines a quick release with an opportunistic instinct, and though he’s secure with a three-year, $15.75 million deal signed last summer, he plays like someone with much to prove.
“I think most important is just to focus every day to get better and whatever game you have out there, make sure you take the things out of it and make sure you know what to work on,” Vrana said. “Just clean those windows — that’s part of development.”
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Vrana came to the Wings seeking more opportunity than he had in Washington. In return, the Wings moved Anthony Mantha, whose lack of consistent assertiveness had grown stale. (Mantha, too, missed a chunk of this season because of shoulder surgery. In their respective returns, Vrana has 17 points after 21 games, a 0.81 points per game average; Mantha has 21 points in 31 games, a 0.68 average.) Wings general manager Steve Yzerman gained a first-round and second-round pick in the trade to bolster the rebuild.
Vrana has paid immediate dividends. He’s the most consistent threat to score, needing just one chance to put the puck in the net.
“I’m trying to create offense as much as possible and give the team a chance to win,” Vrana said. “Whatever happens, I’m staying in my lane and focusing on what I can do best to help the team win. You have to focus on the right things to do.”
Vrana smiled when asked about the potential for a 40-goal performance as soon as next season.
“To be honest with you, I don’t try to put extra pressure on myself,” he said. “I’m just trying to do the best I can do. Forty? I don’t know. I try to do my best every day and we will see how it goes.”
His numbers this season extrapolate to 40 goals if he played a full season, but the proof will come when he goes through camp with the Wings this September and looks to play a full season.
As the Wings roll towards the April 29th season finale, Vrana’s two-way play is allowing the Wings to get a look at a potential line with him, Pius Suter and Filip Zadina. They debuted as a line in early April, about a month into Vrana’s comeback, and the key to staying together is checking hard and being responsible with the puck.
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“I don’t want to have to hide them,” Blashill said. “I’ve done that a little bit and I said I’m not — you have to play the right way and he did an excellent job of that. I think it’s really helped Zadina’s game, too, and I think Zadina has done a good job of trying to play the right way. And Suits is a pretty responsible guy. I was pleased with the way they approached the game.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.