via Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now,

The Detroit Red Wings headed to Pittsburgh today and Jakub Vrana presumably headed for Chicago to begin a three-game conditioning assignment with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Vrana has practiced with the team since Dec. 21, but hasnt played in two months. He left the team in October to enter the NHL/NHL Players Assistance Program. Vrana hasnt said what issue or issues he addressed while being part of the program.

The Griffins play the Wolves Wednesday in Chicago. On Friday, they play another road game against the Milwaukee Admirals. On Saturday, the Griffins are home to play the Admirals. The Red Wings will play three games while Vrana is with the Griffins. They play at Pittsburgh Wednesday, at Buffalo Thursday and home against the Ottawa on New Years Eve.

Presuming Vrana is deemed fit for NHL action, he could play on Wednesday, Jan. 4 at home against the New Jersey Devils. The last time Vrana played a game was Oct. 14 against the Devils in New Jersey. He posted a goal and an assist.

That Jan. 4 game against New Jersey could also be the return date for Robby Fabbri who hasnt played yet this season. He is recovering from offseason knee surgery.

Both of these players should play among the teams top six forward. The Red Wings are also awaiting Tyler Bertuzzis return. Bertuzzi has been out since undergoing hand surgery on Dec. 2. He is expected back in the middle of January, although coach Derek Lalonde hasnt provided any real timeline.

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

"You could tell they were re-energized," coach Derek Lalonde said. "Practice was sharp and crisp for having four days off. But, you saw toward the end of practice we were tired, which was understandable and is something you have to fight through a little bit."

But, with the extra work in practice, the hard skating, it was all worth it to spend a few days away from the rink and not have to concentrate on hockey.

"It felt good to get a couple days off," forward Lucas Raymond said. "After a couple of days, though, you start wanting to come back and playing. But, it's huge, just to enjoy the time with family and friends and get your mind off hockey and then dialing it back in again."...

At the break, the Wings (14-11-7, 35 points) find themselves six points behind Tampa for third place in the Atlantic Division and an automatic playoff berth, and seven points behind Washington for a wild-card spot (with four fewer games played than Washington)....

"Consistency," Raymond said, of what'll be the key for the Wings. "A lot of it is up to us. I still feel if we play the way we're capable of playing, we can beat any team in this league. It's just about us doing it on a consistent basis and not get the dips like we got not too long ago, and to be able to find ways to win games."

Lalonde was impressed with the way the Wings dealt with the losing streak and never got too down emotionally.

"Our guys were competing and playing with structure and doing a lot of what we asked of them," Lalonde said. "It just wasn't good enough to get the full two points in a lot of those (games).

"Any mental break is a good break. You can knock a lot of things with our guys, but their attitude, work ethic and approach has been pretty consistent, and that's what has kept us afloat to be competitive."...

Lalonde said Ville Husso will get one of the starts, either in Pittsburgh (Wednesday) or Buffalo (Thursday), with either Alex Nedeljkovic or Magnus Hellberg getting the other start.

Lalonde doesn't want to use Husso in both games.

"He's already done it this year (played consecutive nights) but we're starting to flirt with the uncomfortable workload," Lalonde said....

The Wings are obviously planning on playing in Buffalo Thursday, but last weekend's snowstorm there has shut down the city. There's a chance the game could be postponed.

"The issue would be getting into town for us," Lalonde said.

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DETROIT The Detroit Red Wings today assigned left wing Jakub Vrana to the American Hockey Leagues Grand Rapids Griffins for conditioning.

Vrana, 26, has been practicing with the Red Wings since he was reinstated by the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Dec. 16. The 6-foot, 190-pound forward has appeared in two games with Detroit this season, tallying a goal and an assist on Oct. 15 at New Jersey. Vrana was limited to 26 games during the 2021-22 campaign but still ranked among the team leaders with 13 goals (T8th), five power play goals (T4th), six power play points (8th) and a 20.0 shooting percentage (2nd). He has recorded 32 points (22-10-32), 18 penalty minutes and a 21.6 shooting percentage in 39 games since being acquired by the Red Wings in a trade with the Washington Capitals on April 12, 2021. In total, Vrana has skated in 323 career games between Detroit and Washington, totaling 189 points (98-91-189), a plus-30 rating and 85 penalty minutes. In his first full NHL season in 2017-18, Vrana helped the Capitals win a Stanley Cup championship, posting 27 points (13-14-27) in 73 regular-season games along with eight points (3-5-8) in 23 postseason contests. Vrana was originally drafted by Washington in the first round (13th overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft - two picks prior to Detroit's selection of Dylan Larkin at 15th overall.A native of Prague, Czech Republic, Vrana registered 75 points (35-40-75), a plus-21 rating and 48 penalty minutes in 88 games with the AHL's Hershey Bears from 2014-17, in addition to 20 points (10-10-20), a plus-eight rating and eight penalty minutes in 38 postseason appearances. Vrana spent the previous four seasons developing in Sweden, where he debuted professionally with Linkoping in the Swedish Hockey League in 2012-13 and logged 27 points (14-13-27) and 14 penalty minutes in 73 games until 2014-15. He also racked up 58 points (35-23-58), a plus-11 rating and 77 penalty minutes in 59 games in Swedens top junior league. Vrana has represented his country at the last three IIHF World Championships, where he was teammates with fellow Red Wings Filip Hronek (2019, 2021 and 2022), Dominik Kubalik (2019 and 2021) and Filip Zadina (2021), combining for 10 points (7-3-10) in 26 games between the three tournaments. Additionally, Vrana recorded six points (3-3-6) in 16 games at three-straight IIHF World Junior Championships (2013-15) and 20 points (14-6-20) in 18 games at three-consecutive IIHF World Under-18 Championships (2012-14).