Jeff Blashill knew Jakub Vrana was a goal scorer. Then Vrana scored a goal in his Red Wings debut, and then he scored four goals three games later. He scored eight goals and 11 points in 11 games with his new team.
And now his new coach is thinking big.
"He brings an elite skill level, he really does. Probably better than I realized watching from afar," Blashill said Wednesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "He’s got as good an ability to score goals as anybody that I’ve been around. He’s got a really, really elite shot, elite touch around the net, he’s a really good skater and he’s got pretty good offensive sense. So I think he’s a guy who can be a dynamic offensive player for us."
Let's pause here to take stock of those words. Blashill has been around guys like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, with seven 30-goal seasons between them. He's been around Johan Franzen in his prime. That's not to mention the scores of great players he's coached for Team USA, including a dude by the name of Patrick Kane. And Vrana "has as good an ability to score goals as anybody" that Blashill's been around.
You could also say this: Vrana has as good an ability to score goals as anybody in the NHL. Because instead of saying Vrana was one of 49 players who scored 19 goals this season, you could say he was the only player among them who didn't play more than 15 minutes per game. Instead of saying he's tied for 32nd in goals the past two seasons, you could say he's fourth in goals at five on five -- ahead of David Pastrnak, Leon Draisaitl and that Kane dude. You could say he's second only to Auston Matthews over the same span in five-on-five goals per 60 minutes.
And if that's not enough to do a little jig, you could say Vrana has twice as many five-on-five goals (44) the past two seasons as Anthony Mantha.
Steve Yzerman was banking on Vrana's production increasing with more ice time in Detroit. Steve Yzerman might be onto something. Overshadowed by a slew of stars in Washington, Vrana played just 14:22 per game this season. He played 17:16 in Detroit, including at least 19 minutes in four games. Vrana played 19 minutes once in five seasons with the Caps. And here's the thing: Blashill wants Vrana to play more.
That is, Blashill wants Vrana to earn more. During their conversation at the end of the season, Blashill outlined a major role for Vrana in Detroit. And Vrana said he wants it. Vrana said he's ready.
"As him and I talked, our goal is to make sure he completes his game to a point where he’s trusted to have lots of minutes. And those are some simple things, but things that I think he understands and that he wants to be better at," Blashill said. "The thing I liked about him was that he showed a commitment to me to say, 'I want to be the all-around player that you’re talking about.'"
As Yzerman and Blashill continue rebuilding the Red Wings, they're placing a premium on -- you guessed it! -- two-way players. They want flash and dash, to be sure, but more than that they want verve. They want full-hearted vigor, the stuff that spills onto the ice from one end to the other. That's why Yzerman isn't worried about Dylan Larkin's dip in offense this season; that's why Blashill has never concerned himself with Larkin's points.
That's why Larkin played 20:24 per game this year, tied for 10th among NHL centers with this other dude by the name of Sidney Crosby. And look, this isn't about Larkin's merit to that much ice time. It can be debated. Fact is, Blashill -- with Yzerman's support -- gives Larkin those minutes because he trusts him up and down the ice. Moving forward, Blashill wants to be able to trust Vrana the same way.
"The difference and the challenge here compared to Washington is, we want him to be one of the drivers of the bus, one of those main guys that the team can follow," Blashill said. "And to do that, your intensity and attention to detail on a night-to-night basis has to be outstanding. There’s so many good offensive players in Washington that there’s other drivers of the bus and you can kind of be a complementary guy there. We want him to be more than a complementary guy.
Two-players are great. Two-way players help you win games, ideally lots of them. The plain truth about the Red Wings' rebuild is that it's going nowhere without more scorers. Only two teams made the playoffs this season without a 20-goal scorer, and one's already down 2-0 to the Hurricanes. The other is coached by Barry Trotz and deploys one of the most stifling systems in the league.
So either the Red Wings are going to follow the lead of the Islanders -- a team whose four-time 20-goal scorer missed the second half of the year, by the way -- or they're going to have to introduce more talent on offense. More flash and dash, with the appropriate mix of verve. Jakub Vrana might be their best bet.
"The demands will be greater, the responsibility will be greater," said Blashill. "But he seems to be someone who wanted that, so let’s keep attacking it and see if we can help him become that."