WASHINGTON — It wasn’t a decision Derek Lalonde made easily, but it was where the Detroit Red Wings landed.
In order to get Jakub Vrana into the lineup for the first time in four months, another forward had to come out for Tuesday’s game against the Washington Capitals. It was Filip Zadina who got the boot, even as he seemed to be playing his best hockey.
“Don’t love pulling Zadina, he has played well for us,” Lalonde said after the morning skate at Capital One Arena. “It kind of just came down to giving V an opportunity. We want to see where he is at, what we have, and Z is the odd man out, not contributing right now to either special teams. Not an easy decision.”
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Lalonde said Monday that he liked how the line of Zadina, Pius Suter and Oskar Sundqvist had been playing, and could have opted to scratch Dominik Kubalik, who has two goals his last 10 games. Kubalik and Sundqvist, though, are both on power play units, while Zadina is not.
It is a blow for the 23-year-old, who has three points in six games since returning from a lower-body injury that sidelined him three months.
“These things I can control, I control,” Zadina said. “It was their decision. It’s part of hockey.
“Before I got the chance to play again, I said I will do my best as I was trying before I got hurt. I am just trying to do my best every shift.”
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Vrana hasn’t played for the Wings since Oct. 15. Since that time he has spent two months in the NHL and NHLPA players assistance program, been waived and assigned to the minors.
“It’s huge for him and I wish him the best,” Zadina said. “He is my friend and I wish him the best, for sure.”
Vrana only appeared in the Wings’ first two games of the season, but he logged 17 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins from Dec. 28 to Feb. 11. After a slow start – understandable, given his long absence from hockey – he was on a six-game point streak (four goals, four assists) when the Wings recalled him Feb. 15. A winning lineup kept him on the sidelines until Tuesday. Originally acquired at the 2021 trade deadline from the Capitals, Vrana had 22 goals and 32 points in a Wings uniform entering Tuesday. In addition to regaining his NHL-level timing, Vrana needs to embrace taking risk out of his game.
“We just want him to stay within structure, as we have with all of guys,” Lalonde said. “That’s probably something Vrana has battled his whole career, is staying connected within structure. Hopefully he does what he can do, and that’s finish when he gets the opportunity.
“He hasn’t played an NHL game in a long time, but he had the opportunity in the AHL to get some rhythm in his game. You hope he gets to that stretch where he was scoring and contributing offensively down there.”
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 latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.