St. Louis Blues acquire Jakub Vrana from Detroit Red Wings

Deadline day is finally here.

As DailyFaceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported this morning, the St. Louis Blues have acquired forward Jakub Vrana (50 percent retained) from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Dylan McLaughlin and a 2025 seventh-round draft pick.

Vrana, 27, has tallied two points in five games this season at the NHL level with the Red Wings. This is an important note as these are the only games Vrana has played this season since returning from the NHL/NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program. Due to off-ice personal issues, Vrana has spent the majority of this year in the American Hockey League with the Grand Rapids Griffins. He has registered 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 17 games. 

Vrana was listed at No. 23 on Seravalli’s Trade Targets board. As Seravalli notes, “he is a gifted goal scorer, fourth in the league in goals per 60 minutes at even strength over the last three seasons.”

The Czechia product has a cap hit of $5.25 million according to CapFriendly, but the Red Wings will hold on to $2.625 million until his deal concludes in 2024.

Originally selected 13th overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2014 NHL Draft, Vrana found early success with the Capitals club. He had a solid rookie year campaign in the AHL with the Hershey Bears posting 34 points (16 goals, 18 assists) in 36 games, and adding an additional 14 points in 21 playoff contests.

His consistent performance over the first couple of seasons in the AHL led to a full-time promotion to the Capitals during the 2017-18 season. That season, Vrana notched 12 goals and 27 points in 73 games and eight points in 21 playoff contests during the Capitals’ run to the Stanley Cup. Vrana was dealt from the Capitals to the Red Wings at the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline in exchange for Anthony Mantha.

Vrana has totalled 189 points (98 goals, 91 assists) in 326 regular season games with the Red Wings and Capitals.

McLaughlin, 27, has registered one assist in six games with the Springfield Thunderbirds this season. He will remain with the Thunderbirds on loan.

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