The Pittsburgh Penguins were able to defeat the San Jose Sharks last night by a score of 3-1 on the backs of Sidney Crosby (3A), Jake Guentzel (2G), Rickard Rakell (1G, 2A), and Casey DeSmith (38/39). It was a must needed victory. The Penguins don’t have the luxury of throwing away points to teams further down in the standings as them. Mission accomplished as far as last night goes.
The victory isn’t what I’m going to cover today. I want to focus on a high risk high reward trade the Penguins *could* pursue. We all know they don’t have a ton of quality assets or cap space. Because of this reality sometimes you have to take a homerun swing and hope you connect instead of whiff. To get players who will make an actual difference sometimes you have to seek out opportunities other teams will pass on. You have to find a market inefficiency. One way to do this is to target a player with perceived off-ice issues, injuries, or both. A player who fits the description of both is Jakub Vrana.
Here’s some background on Vrana. He has a history of injuries, including shoulder surgery last season which shelved him from the beginning of the season until March. This season he entered the player assistance program for personal reasons. While I’m not going to speculate into the nature of his admittance to the program I definitely think it is something that merits mentioning and is a big reason why a player of his caliber has the trade value he does. Since coming out of the program he was put on waivers by Detroit and cleared. He has been playing in the AHL in Grand Rapids. He is starting to find his footing again. He has eight points in his last six games including four goals. He has ten points in his last nine games. This is a change from earlier in the season when he was pointless in seven of his first eight games in Grand Rapids.
Just yesterday, he was called back up to the Red Wings.
There are plenty of valid reasons for trepidation. Trading for Vrana is not a gimme putt. There is risk involved for sure. It is also a risk a team like the Penguins should absolutely take. Beggars can’t be choosers. The argument for Vrana is pretty simple. When he’s playing the kind of hockey he is capable of he is by far one of the best scoring wingers in hockey at 5v5.
Here is a passage from last April about Vrana’s goal scoring prowess:
Since he entered the league in 2016-17, Vrana has scored five-on-five goals at the second-fastest rate (1.25 per 60 minutes) of all players who played at least 2,000 minutes in that span, trailing only Auston Matthews.
He is literally in the 100th percentile. The talent is there. The need for the Penguins is there. The willingness to take a risk should also be there. The cost to acquire is going to be lower than the player’s skill level. You’re betting on Vrana being able to suit up and play at his perceived talent level.
As for his contract, he has one more year remaining at 5.3M. You could probably get the Red Wings to eat some of it considering the market for Vrana isn’t where it would be in prior years ie: Anthony Mantha. This is a situation where the Penguins could definitely make the money and cost to acquire work out.
Getting a goal scorer like Vrana pushes talent down the lineup. Jason Zucker has had a really nice season for the Penguins. He’s looking like the player the Penguins thought they were getting when they made the trade. Pushing him down to the third line does wonders for scoring depth. Brock McGinn is currently in the left wing spot on the third line… he hasn’t registered a point in TWENTY GAMES. That shooting percentage that was hovering around ~20%? Yeah, it is down to 13.7 and dropping at the moment. A serious team doesn’t have a player like McGinn on the third line. You add Vrana and now you don’t. McGinn remains an overpriced fourth liner, but at least in a role he is better suited for. Better situation would be to trade McGinn, which the Penguins probably could have done during his shooting bender earlier in the year. Now? A much tougher sell.
Jakub Vrana, worth taking the risk imo
Thanks for reading!
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