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Jakub Vrana returns to ice with Red Wings teammates for first time since shoulder surgery

By Ian Oland

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January 28, 2022 4:52 pm

Former Capital Jakub Vrana practiced with the Detroit Red Wings for the first time on Thursday since undergoing shoulder surgery in September.

Vrana wore a blue non-contact jersey and was cleared to shoot the puck.

“He’ll be in non-contact for a while,” Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said. “He’ll have a doctor’s appointment in mid-February. Ultimately, the surgeon dictates when he’s ready. There’s no way to know until he has that follow-up appointment and the surgeon says, ‘Yep, it looks like you’re ready for contact,’ or ‘You’re not.’

“What we want to do is get him as ready as possible for when he is able to get contact so it doesn’t take as long to get back and two, keep his spirits up by practicing with us. Being out there, while exciting for him and for us and for everybody, it doesn’t change the timeline. We’ll see. We get to mid-February and it could be another month. We’re going to have to wait and see.”

Vrana was expected to have a career year during his first 82-game season with the Red Wings. Instead, the Czech forward tore up his shoulder 10 minutes into his first training camp session of the year.

“When he comes back, we’ll see what our lineup looks like,” Blashill said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen in terms of injuries and all that stuff. I know when he does come back, he’s a dynamic player, and hopefully, he can add to our team. In the meantime, we’re focused on the group we have.”

The Red Wings acquired Vrana and Richard Panik at last season’s trade deadline from the Capitals for Anthony Mantha. Ironically, Mantha has been out longterm this season for the Caps due to a shoulder injury as well. Mantha went under the knife a little over a month after V.

Vrana began his tenure with the Red Wings by scoring 11 points in his first 11 games with the team, including a career-best four-goal game.

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