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Hot take Vrana goes unclaimed

Jan. 3, 2023 at 3:24 p.m.
#1
NoCupsForCanada
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This will probably age like milk, but...

Vrana's deal doesn't expire until after next season. Cap flexibility is a huge deal right now. The only teams that currently have the space to claim him without using LTIR are:

Ottawa
Minnesota
Chicago
Anaheim
Buffalo
Arizona

Ottawa has to extend DeBrincat and some other RFAs next year plus Stutzle's extension kicks in then, so they really can't afford his cap hit. Minnesota is stuck in cap hell until 2025 because of the Parise and Suter buyouts, so they're probably out. Chicago is clearly at the beginning of a rebuild, so picking up a guy like him with the idea of winning games makes no sense. Anaheim is in a similar boat, albeit with much more cap space. Buffalo could easily afford him even with extending their RFAs, but they're very deep at forward right now and probably want to let the kids continue to play. And Arizona is playing with an artificially low internal cap, so they aren't going to take on a deal like that.

Whatever happens, I think Yzerman will view this as a win. If he gets claimed, he just cleared a roster spot and 5.2 million off the books for the next 1.5 years without giving up a single asset. If he goes unclaimed, they still have a guy who could potentially be a major contributor as a top six forward if he can get himself back together.

Watch him end up in Toronto
Jan. 3, 2023 at 3:28 p.m.
#2
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I think it's really just CHI, ANA, ARZ, BUF that can grab him without trade and/or waiving 2+ players. CHI/ANA won't risk losing Bedard and ARZ is too cheap. I can see BUF waiving someone and grabbing him though.
Jan. 3, 2023 at 3:30 p.m.
#3
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NoCupsForCanada
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Quoting: dtd_tank
I think it's really just CHI, ANA, ARZ, BUF that can grab him without trade and/or waiving 2+ players. CHI/ANA won't risk losing Bedard and ARZ is too cheap. I can see BUF waiving someone and grabbing him though.


Yeah buffalo is the one spot that could make a bit of sense, but the elephant in the room here is what was the issue that landed him in the PA program in the first place
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Jan. 3, 2023 at 3:33 p.m.
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Quoting: TheWolfe
Yeah buffalo is the one spot that could make a bit of sense, but the elephant in the room here is what was the issue that landed him in the PA program in the first place


Yep, and is it worth it for BUF to send someone like Krebs down to bring in a guy with *insert elephant in room*? Probably not, but who knows. Could be low risk, high reward for them. Maybe medium risk, because if they waive him, there's nobody else that would take him (at least until he's conditioned).
Jan. 3, 2023 at 7:03 p.m.
#5
Bedard23
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L take Minnesota will claim him without hesitation if he falls to them and they somehow find a way to clear cap space
Jan. 3, 2023 at 8:02 p.m.
#6
Future Ducks legend
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Quoting: TheWolfe
This will probably age like milk, but...

Vrana's deal doesn't expire until after next season. Cap flexibility is a huge deal right now. The only teams that currently have the space to claim him without using LTIR are:

Ottawa
Minnesota
Chicago
Anaheim
Buffalo
Arizona

Ottawa has to extend DeBrincat and some other RFAs next year plus Stutzle's extension kicks in then, so they really can't afford his cap hit. Minnesota is stuck in cap hell until 2025 because of the Parise and Suter buyouts, so they're probably out. Chicago is clearly at the beginning of a rebuild, so picking up a guy like him with the idea of winning games makes no sense. Anaheim is in a similar boat, albeit with much more cap space. Buffalo could easily afford him even with extending their RFAs, but they're very deep at forward right now and probably want to let the kids continue to play. And Arizona is playing with an artificially low internal cap, so they aren't going to take on a deal like that.

Whatever happens, I think Yzerman will view this as a win. If he gets claimed, he just cleared a roster spot and 5.2 million off the books for the next 1.5 years without giving up a single asset. If he goes unclaimed, they still have a guy who could potentially be a major contributor as a top six forward if he can get himself back together.

Watch him end up in Toronto


Anaheim is not at the beginning of its rebuild, we are a few years along, we have several high drafted individuals that are now young roster players, we should be bottoming out this year and start climbing up next year.

That said, we are in need of a top 6 LW, and we have the cap space, and Vrana is known by Verbeek (was the AGM under Yzerman when Vrana was traded to the Wings). There is a chance we could put the claim in and see if he works out.

I heard a rumor somewhere that Verbeek and Yzerman were in talks over the last couple of weeks, giving the full situation about Vrana so Verbeek goes in eyes open may have been what they were discussing.
Jan. 4, 2023 at 12:20 p.m.
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NoCupsForCanada
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Quoting: GiggywithGibby
Anaheim is not at the beginning of its rebuild, we are a few years along, we have several high drafted individuals that are now young roster players, we should be bottoming out this year and start climbing up next year.

That said, we are in need of a top 6 LW, and we have the cap space, and Vrana is known by Verbeek (was the AGM under Yzerman when Vrana was traded to the Wings). There is a chance we could put the claim in and see if he works out.

I heard a rumor somewhere that Verbeek and Yzerman were in talks over the last couple of weeks, giving the full situation about Vrana so Verbeek goes in eyes open may have been what they were discussing.


I could see that as an option. Anaheim certainly has the cap flexibility as even though there's a lot of RFAs that will need extensions, they have a lot of money coming off the books as well. Again, the elephant in the room here is where Vrana's head is really at. Something clearly happened between his last game for GR and the decision to extend his conditioning stint and because Stevie runs a tight ship, nobody outside the walls of his board room really knows the full scope.
Jan. 4, 2023 at 2:23 p.m.
#8
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NoCupsForCanada
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#CalledIt
 
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