Whew. Lets get this figured out, all. 

Interesting.  I really thought Buffalo or Ottawa would pick him up.  

It makes you wonder if these GM's know something we don't.  Or if it's a thing for Buffalo's GM to call up Stevie and say, "wtf is going on here?"

I hope for the good of Vrana and the wings that they get everything sorted. I don't know whether this was a calculated risk that was perfectly played or if he is a problem that Yzerman was willing to lose for nothing. 

Regardless, the wings got their flexibility to bring Fabbri back, lost nothing, and now have the option to leave Vrana in GR as long as he needs to be (or until Stevie can work a trade)

Does Vrana report to GR or say F it? 

Just another episode of "As the Puck Drops" Hopefully we can get back to worrying whether the Wings will make a run for the playoffs. Besides, I'm all out of popcorn.

This is certainly not the end of the story, does he report or will he force Yzerman to terminate his contract?  Yesterday folks were talking about him wiping his social media clear of wings stuff, but others mentioned he never had any to begin with. Should be interesting, makes me want to go out of my way to GR to see a game if he does stay. 

DETROIT The Detroit Red Wings today activated center Robby Fabbri from injured reserve and assigned left wing Jakub Vrana to the American Hockey Leagues Grand Rapids Griffins.

Fabbri, 26, is expected to make his season debut tonight against New Jersey, marking his first game action since sustaining a lower-body injury on March 10 vs. Minnesota. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound forward skated in 50 games during the 2021-22 season and ranked among the team leaders with 17 goals (4th), 13 assists (T10th), 30 points (8th), 35 penalty minutes (6th), six power play goals (T1st), eight power play points (T5th), 123 shots (10th), a 13.8 shooting percentage (7th) and 86 hits (T6th). Originally selected by St. Louis in the first round (21st overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Fabbri has recorded 152 points (73-79-152) and 129 penalty minutes in 302 games with the Red Wings and Blues since 2015-16, in addition to 16 points (5-11-16) in 30 postseason contests. Fabbri helped the Blues claim their first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2019, working his way back from a pair of injuries that sidelined him for over a year, including the entire 2017-18 season, totaling six points (2-4-6) in 32 regular-season games before netting one goal in 10 postseason appearances.

from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now,

Its clear that the Yzerman is unhappy with Vrana. They wouldnt waive a player with his skill package if there wasnt some kind of issue.

I think theres probably a lot that went into it, Lalonde said. Thats part of his privacy, especially where hes been over the last 3-4 months. I dont think it would be fair to him to go through any of the details.(managing the human side of it as a coach).

Adam Erne will be scratched tonight to make room for Fabbri to play against the Devils. The Red Wings undoubtedly hope Fabbri and Bertuzzis return will make up for Vranas absence.

You hope so. Obviously, were scoring in this little win streak. Were not built like some of the other offensive top-end teams in the league. We have no problem with that. Fine with that. Were going to win with what we keep out of our net. Were 16-12-7 and we look at those wins and losses and they all look like that. The games we won it was about us keeping it out of our net.

more, mostly on Vrana...

It looks like Vrana will stay in G.R. until Yzerman engineers a trade.

I will totally speculate, but I think Vrana will not play in NHL anymore

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

After he cleared waivers, the Wings assigned Vrana to the minors. He already was there on a conditioning stint.

That the Wings were not able to get even a slight return via trade indicates other teams are vary of Vrana. He was reinstated Dec. 16 after spending two months in the players assistance program, which is designed to assist players dealing with a range of issues from mental health to substance abuse. Last season, he missed 56 games recovering from shoulder surgery. He showed up late for training camp, and lasted 10 minutes on the ice in his first practice. It turned out to be an issue that had lingered since the previous season meaning that he could have had surgery during the offseason instead of at the start of what would have been his first full season with the Wings....

Vrana initially looked like a terrific addition, scoring eight goals in 11 games the rest of the pandemic-shortened 2021 season. But things started to sour when the Wings, who were counting on Vrana for a major part of their offense, found out he would miss more than half of the season.

This season, Vrana played two games in October. After returning in December, he practiced with the team for a week and was assigned to the minors on a conditioning stint on Dec. 27. Coach Derek Lalonde evaded details on what led he and Yzerman to make the decision to expose Vrana on waivers.

"Really dont want to go into the details of it, especially with the situation where Jakub is in his coming back," Lalonde said. "Want to be kind of private, personal to him. But ultimately we had to make a decision and that was the decision."

Yzerman could still try to work out a trade, but he will have to retain a chunk of of Vrana's salary and may have to offer further enticement in the form of a draft pick. The other option is to keep Vrana in the minors. He will still draw the NHL-level salary, but he will no longer count against the 23-man roster. He could also resume playing for the Wings, as DeKeyser and Svechnikov did after they were exposed on waivers.

more ($)

Im going to go against the grain here and say Jakub gets his legs back in GR and gives the organization no choice but to bring him back up.  The whole message to the team has been you earn your spot what would undermine that message more than sending guys who earned it back to GR for a guy who hasnt?  This sends the message that no one is entitled on the team.  No one is too special.  Vranas career is now entirely in his own hands.  He earns his way back and its an empowering story.  Masterful psychological move.

EDIT: Posts of a happy Vrana and Ned in GR, Vrana hosting a charity skate for GR already turning up on the interwebs.