The Washington Capitals signed 2018 Stanley Cup Champion left-wing Jakub Vrana to a one-year, $775,000 contract on Monday after the 28-year-old, who was an unrestricted free agent, attended the team’s training camp on a PTO.
In 284 career games with the Capitals, Vrana recorded 76 goals, 157 points, and a +36 rating before getting traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Anthony Mantha on April 12, 2021. He set career-highs in goals (25) and points (52) in 69 games during the 2019-20 season. He has no points and a combined -8 rating in 15 Stanley Cup Playoff games over his last two seasons with the Capitals when they were eliminated in the first round both times after recording three goals and eight points in 23 games during the 2018 tournament.
Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said he saw a “frustrated player” in Vrana in terms of his body language and the team wanted to move on from that.
Vrana earned eight goals, half of which came in one game, and 11 points in 11 games after the trade. Like Mantha, he undwerwent a shoulder procedure at the start of the 2021-22 campaign after signing a three-year contract ($5.25 million cap hit) and did not come back until March. Vrana returned to score 13 goals and 19 points in 26 games but was limited to just five with Detroit the following season after serving time in the NHL Player Assistance program and clearing waivers around the holidays. Detroit brought Vrana, who served as a healthy scratch at times for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins during his stint there, up for three games near the trade deadline to showcase him for potential suitors and he finished with a goal and two points in five games with the NHL squad before getting traded again to the St. Louis Blues.
Vrana recorded 12 goals and 20 points in 41 games with St. Louis over the last two seasons before he cleared waivers in January. He has not played in the NHL since January 9.
Washington, who added Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane via trades in June to improve their top-six forward group, finished last season 27th in the NHL with an average of 2.63 goals-per-game and 18th with a .206 power-play efficiency.
Vrana recorded a goal, an assist, a team-high 11 shots on goal, .5955 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .6001 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .625 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in four preseason games in September.
The Capitals drafted Vrana 13th overall in 2014.
The deadline to submit the 23-man opening night roster for all NHL teams was Monday at 5 PM ET.
Washington will open the regular season against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday (7 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market).
