The Detroit Red Wings have traded forward Jakub Vrana to the St. Louis Blues for a seventh-round pick in 2025 and AHL forward Dylan McLaughlin.
The Red Wings will retain 50 per cent of Vrana's cap hit.
Vrana was out for more than four months earlier this season after entering the NHL and NHLPA players assistance program in mid-October. He was later waived and sent to the minors before returning to the Red Wings lineup on Feb. 21.
The Prague native had one goal and one assist in two games prior to his hiatus and went scoreless while averaging 12:24 of ice-time in his three February games with the Red Wings.
Vrana, a first-round pick of the Capitals back in 2014, has 98 goals and 91 assists for 189 points in 326 regular-season NHL games split between the Capitals and Red Wings.
The 27-year-old has one year remaining on his contract before he's slated to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024. Vrana's reduced cap hit on St. Louis next season will be $2.625 million.
Detroit is now retaining a portion salary for three different players.
This is the second time in the past three years on which Vrana has been moved at the deadline. He was originally acquired by Detroit in April 2021 along with a 2021 first, 2022 second and Richard Panik with Anthony Mantha going to Washington.
The Blues are going to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2018 and general manager Doug Armstrong has been busy the past month. St. Louis traded Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan O'Reilly and Ivan Barbashev in separate deals while accumulating a combination of futures picks and younger players.
