Jakub Vrana cleared waivers Wednesday, and the St. Louis Blues will assign the forward to Springfield of the American Hockey League.
Vrana, 27, came under fire for recent subpar performances, including a 3-1 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday and was not projected to be in the lineup on Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings.
Vrana, who came in with lots of promise after putting up 14 points (10 goals, four assists) in 20 games after being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings for a prospect and a 2025 seventh-round pick, struggled under coach Craig Berube, who was fired on Tuesday, putting up just six points (two goals, four assists) in 19 games; he was a minus-2 in each of the past four games he's played in.
"What led to the decision was I came in after what would have been the Chicago game, we had a day off and I came in and his name wasn't on the board to play last night," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said Wednesday. "I've talked to the player, I've talked to the representative [J.P. Barry of CAA Sports] and there comes a point where you start to feel like you're hampering a guy's career. He wants to play hockey and it wasn't working here, for whatever reason, and I just felt, 'I'm going to see if I can find you a new home where you're going to get that fresh opportunity to play.' We've done that in the past with different guys that have come to me and said, 'I'm not playing enough, I have a career, can you help me?' My job is to say, 'Yes, I'll help you,' or, 'No I don't care, like you're more important to me sitting in the stands.'
"A lot of the players that move on in those situations are because it's a joint decision, and you're trying to help not derail their career. It felt like we were derailing Jakub's career."
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