Entering the 2024-25 NHL season, it appeared that only three members of the Washington Capitals‘ 2018 Stanley Cup-winning team would be on the active roster: returners Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson and Tom Wilson.
… As it turns out, there will be a fourth.
After a strong preseason showing, Jakub Vrana earned the final roster spot on the Capitals and will sign a full-time contract with the team after originally joining Washington last summer on a professional tryout agreement.
It’s a full-circle moment for Vrana, who was drafted by the Capitals in 2014 and spent his first several NHL seasons in D.C. He quickly became a fan favorite due to his youthful personality, lightning-quick speed and untapped potential, and was once viewed as the successor to Ovechkin as the team’s star goal-scorer of the future.
Vrana broke out during the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs and notably found the back of the net in the Caps’ Cup-clinching Game 5 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. He scored 49 goals and 99 points over the course of the next two seasons as a full-time member of Washington’s top six, usually playing on the second line.
However, Vrana fell out of favor with the Capitals during Peter Laviolette’s tenure as head coach and was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in the spring of 2021 for Anthony Mantha. Despite hopes that a new home could take his game to greater heights, Vrana’s next few seasons were plagued by injuries and a stint with the NHL’s player assistance program.
It seemed that Vrana’s NHL career might be over after he earned only six points in 21 games with the St. Louis Blues in the 2023-24 season, spending the majority of the campaign in the minor leagues. The Caps brought him back on a flyer, and it appears the return to the organization and city that developed him has reignited his performance. He was one of the team’s most visible players during the preseason.
How Vrana fares and what his role will be throughout the regular season are uncertain, but the fact that he made the opening night roster is a victory. There’s always a sentimental value attached to any player who contributes to a championship team, and for one like Vrana whose previous tenure ended on less-than-ideal terms, it provides heartwarming closure for himself, the organization and Caps fans everywhere.
