Jakub Vrana
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as
improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”
-- Benjamin Franklin
The number “13” has hardly been unlucky for Jakub
Vrana. He was taken by the Washington
Capitals with the 13th overall pick in the 2014 entry draft, wears
the number “13” for the Caps (the fifth player in team history to wear it), and
he scored 13 goals for the Capitals this season. It was not all Skittles and unicorns,
though. Vrana got off to a good start in
his rookie campaign, recording a pair of assists against the Ottawa Senators in
the season opener and going 2-3-5 in his first six contests. However, inconsistency crept into his game, a
problem that would stalk him all season.
He went his next five games without a point and was just 2-0-2 in 14
games after that hot six-game start.
The problem was reflected in his eight ten-game segments,
which displayed quite a varied level of output across those segments. He started well (two five-point segments among
his first three) and finished well (four points in each of his last two
segments), but in-between it was a rather uneven level of production (between
one and four points). And his
appearances as the season wore on took on an uneven character. He missed eight of the last 33 games of the
regular season after sitting for just one of the first 49 contests of the
season.
The other item of note in his ten-game segments is the
manner in which his ice time was reduced.
In his first segment he averaged 13:51 per game in ice time. However, except for one segment (his sixth,
when he averaged 12:59 per game) his ice time dropped in each segment until he
averaged just 10:09 in his last segment of the season. It might have played a factor in his having
recorded ten of his 13 goals for the season in his first four segments, but
just three in his last four segments of the season.
Fearless’ Take… Even with his uneven presence in the lineup
and ice time, Jakub Vrana finished in the top-20 in goal scoring among rookies
(tied for 17th). With 13
goals averaging 12:30 per game over 73 contests, only one of those above him in
the rankings averaged less ice time (Sonny Milano had 14 goals averaging 11:39
in 55 games for Columbus). And an active
Vrana was part of a successful team. In
21 games in which he had three or more shots on goal, the Caps were 14-5-2.
Cheerless’ Take… Yeah, about those shots on goal. The Caps only lost one game in regulation in
the ten in which he didn’t have any shots on goal (a 3-0 loss to the Vegas
Golden Knights on December 23rd).
And among rookies, his shot attempts on ice numbers were not especially
impressive. Among 60 rookies appearing
in at least 40 games, he ranked 27th in shot attempts-for at 5-on-5
(50.15 percent).
Odd Vrana Fact… Jakub Vrana had just one point in ten games
against Central Division opponents this season, the first goal of the contest
in a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on December 12th.
Game to Remember… November 22nd vs. Ottawa
After scoring goals in consecutive games in back-to-back
games against New Jersey and Philadelphia on October 13th and 14th,
Jakub Vrana went into a slump, scoring just two goals over his next 15
games. On the night before Thanksgiving
against the Ottawa Senators, Vrana broke out of his slump. Late in the first period, T.J. Oshie won a
battle for a loose puck just inside the Senators’ blue line. Oshie curled in a snapped
a pass to Evgeny Kuznetsov cutting to the net.
Kuznetsov’s attempted redirect from the side of the net was stopped by
goalie Craig Anderson, but he could not control the rebound that leaked to the
top of the crease. Vrana was camped out
there with inside position on Fredrik Claesson and got enough of his stick on
the loose puck to nudge it past Anderson to give the Caps a 1-0 lead 15:21 into
the game.
After the Caps scored on a Kuznetsov power play goal less
than eight minutes into the second period to give Washington a 3-0 lead, Vrana
struck again barely two minutes later.
Dmitry Orlov backhanded a pass to Kuznetsov, who carried the puck out of
the Washington end and through the neutral zone. As he approached the Ottawa blue line he
tried to send the puck through Ryan Dzingel’s legs and recover it on the other
side, but he lost it to Vrana on his left side.
Vrana stepped up and fired a shot that beat Anderson on the blocker
side, wedging under the net frame under the water bottle where everyone but the
referee lost sight of it. The referee
signaled a goal, Vrana shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “OK,” and he had
his first multi-goal game as a Capital in a 5-2 win.
Game to Forget… January 21st vs. Philadelphia
There were times this season when it just was not too clear
that Vrana was fully engaged in his task.
That was the case in a mid-January game against the Flyers in
Washington. He skated three shifts in
the first period for 2:57 in ice time to no effect. Then, he skated another five shifts in the
second period for 3:28 with similar results.
And that would be it. Vrana
skated eight shifts and 6:25 in ice time (his low for the season), not seeing
the ice for the last 22:46 of regulation and overtime in a 2-1 Flyers win. He finished the game with no shots on goal,
no shot attempts, and one giveaway as the only crooked mark on his score sheet
line.
Postseason… Jakub Vrana’s time was doled out sparingly in
the postseason, averaging 11:56 in 23 games (he sat for Game 2 in the opening
round series against Columbus). And, he
scored only three goals in those 23 games, tenth on the club. But he was one of six Capitals with at least
two game-winning goals. Both came in the
conference semi-final series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The first came in Game 2 when he scored from between
the hash marks on a power play to put the Caps up, 2-0, in what would be a 4-1
win. The other came in Game 5 when,
after a great save by Braden Holtby to preserve what was a 3-3 tie, he skated
with Alex Ovechkin to the other end.
Ovechkin carried the puck wide, and as he was about to curl around the
net fed the puck to Vrana cutting across the low slot. Vrana wasted no time in finding the back of
the net before goalie Matt Murray could get back into the net after setting up
for an Ovechkin shot that never came.
Vrana finished his first postseason as a Capital with a 3-5-8, plus-5
scoring line.
In the end…
Jakub Vrana can skate, he has great hands, and he has a
lethal shot. He has the potential to be
the best pure sniper of a shooter on this club since Peter Bondra. But his consistency needs to catch up to his
talent. He has a tendency to go silent
and disengaged for stretches, even games at a time. But he has yet to play his 100the game in the
NHL, and he will not be 23 years old until February. He has time and room to improve those mental
aspects of his game that need development.
As he grows and progresses in those areas, improvement, achievement, and
success will accompany his game. This
season was a step in that direction.
Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America
