Vrana Didn’t Go To GR; He’s In for Red Wings Tonight; Berggren Is Out

As it turned out, the Detroit Red Wings did technically send Jakub Vrana to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday. But they always intended to play him in tonight’s game against the New York Rangers.

The Red Wings officially recalled him today. He never actually went to Grand Rapids.

“There’s a a purpose for it,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “We have those paper transactions all of the time. For whatever reason, this one got the social media world very excited…We fully expected him to be back in the lineup.”

Vrana is staying in the lineup and Filip Zadina is also coming back in. Jonatan Berggren is coming out. Lalonde went out of his way to say that sitting Berggren is no reflection on his play.

“Obviously, very happy with Berggren’s game,” Lalonde said. “Offensively, he’s always producing plays for us, but there’s still some areas with his 200-foot game, I don’t think it’s a bad thing for him to watch. Expect to get him back in Saturday.”

There is no guarantee how long Vrana will stay up because Lucas Raymond is getting close to coming off the injured list. He might be ready to play Saturday when the Red Wings play the Tampa Bay Lightning

“Possibility,” Lalonde said. “He had a very positive skate today. He was the only player that came in due to the weather and was a step in the right direction. So, Saturday … we’ll see how practice goes tomorrow but Saturday is a real possibility.”

Just Larkin Ruling?

The Red Wings were relieved that Larkin wasn’t suspended.

“It’s a really good player. It’s a center. Obviously, we don’t want to lose anyone, let alone our top center for us,” Lalonde said. “I thought the right call was made. It warranted being kicked out of the game. I think he was kind of bracing for a reverse hit from (T.J.) Oshie, who’s one of the best reverse hit guys in the world and the stick rode up. The right call was made and I think the league did a good thing, too by not suspending him. Of course we wanted him for tonight.”