Vrana clears waivers, officially assigned to Lowell

Devils rookie center Petr Vrana cleared waivers today and was officially assigned to Lowell. 

Teams had until noon today to claim Vrana, but none did, so he remains Devils' property.

Vrana, 23, has been in Lowell on a conditioning assignment. Now, he is officially off the Devils' NHL roster, but can be recalled without clearing re-entry waivers because the AHL salary on his two-way contract is below the $100,000 limit.

Vrana, the Devils' second-round pick in the 2003 draft, has no goals and one assist in four games with Lowell this season. He did not play in Lowell's 3-0 loss to Providence on Friday night.

Comments

[Speedz]

I just feel bad this guy actually made the team at the start of the season and thought he had caught a break. Idk i'd have liked to see him play more. Maybe it'll be inspiration for him

[Jeremy]

Didn't see that one coming. Hopefully he can develop in Lowell for the rest of the year.

[Vishal]

Thanks for the update TG. Way to rule Vrana, keep playing hard, and you'll be rewarded!

[BH]

Can't say I'm surpised he didn't get claimed.

[checco]

Oh no. thats cannot be fun for Vrana. 4 years in AHL :-(

[Nick]

At least we were able to keep him. For any Lowell player that wants to stay up here, remember not to score any goals when you are called up!

[Vishal]

Anssi didn't score, yet he's still not here.

[Guy]

Anssi looked like too much of a threat to score :-D

[JJ]

Good move. Anyone who thinks Vrana played well, deserved more ice time or is going to be a top 6 forward in the NHL doesn't have a clue. I'm not trashing the guy, he's got some skills but he clearly wasn't ready for primetime. He was panicky defensively, made stupid, risky plays (blind back passes in the D zone???) and took bad penalties because he was a step behind the play. How is that deserving of more ice time on a team that was fighting for it's life with major stars going down with injuries? The guy has the offensive upside of a Sergei Brylin without the maturity and defensive hockey sense of a SB. He's better served in Lowell where he'll play and learn. At least he cleared so he can come up and down all year, Tallackson too I believe.

[dp]

yeah vrana isnt strong enough either unlike bergfors who i thought wasnt necessarily strong but quick and was good w/ puck possession

[JJ]

Bergfors' natural abilities are way above Vrana's and he's listed as 13 lbs bigger at 5'11 190. Vrana might very well end up being a career minor leaguer. Heck, both might but Bergfors has a MUCH better shot at being a top 6 NHL forward.

[bobo]

What's this say about Conte's drafting over the last few years??????

[Al]

I don't know how you can prove you deserve to play when maybe you get 4 mins a night!

[mikeford]

I wonder if the Lowell Devil lovers will turn their affection to DiSalvatore now that Vrana showed absolutely nothing in his NJ tenure.

[Jeff O.]

Vrana didn't get any quality minutes with NJ while he was up. Give him quality minutes with quality players. Then, we may see how good Vrana may actually be. I'm not saying he'll be better, but we'll have more to judge him on.

[JJ]

Zajac & Parise in 2003 & 2004 were excellent picks. Yes Hale was a bust and Foster was a bust (both were risky picks Hale's kidneys & Foster's abdominal muscle issues). You can't judge Bergfors yet, he's still VERY young, Corrente should be a top 4 NHLer at some point. Obviously where the Devils have made hay is in the undrafted free agent arena over the past few years but at 62nd overall in 2000 Martin sure was a home run. To get a good idea of who's who if you don't know check out these two sites and cross reference names. These guys at hockeys future are pretty good at evaluations (though they have tended to under-rate Devils defensive prospects over the years).

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr000051.html (Devils draft history)

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/teams/new_jersey_devils

[Devilswede]

No updates on Zajac and the goaltending tonight TG?

[sla]

JJ, you're the one without a clue! Our top guys can play FORTY shifts per game, and not even get a single point some nights. And these are guys that have played the NHL level for YEARS! Vrana was getting FOUR shifts a game, playing with grinders and 4th liners, and it was his first experience at the NHL level ...(thanks to Lou, who never called this guy up in this three AHL years, despite being the point leader and AHL All-Star representative).
ANY player would struggle after playing 20+ minutes on top lines in previous seasons, and then spend the beginning of this season on the bench! Sutter set Vrana up to fail. If he really wanted a talented play-making forward to succeed, he would've kept him on Patty's line and let this kid learn by playing with the pro's.

[modnarm]

YES. this is good. bad for him.. but potentially good for us.

[Scott731]

It seems to me some people think the goal was to have Vrana succeed when the goal is to have the team succeed. Forcing Vrana into a first or second line role over a currently better player doesn't make sense for the team. Vrana did less with his limited ice time than Brookbank and Bergfors. The fact nobody claimed Vrana speaks volumes on the leagues current opinion on him.

[roge]

Right on sla! This team is NOT interested in developing players and didn't give Vrana a chance at all.

[Johnny SB]

Hey JJ -

Thanks for those websites!! Awesome info!

[roge]

Excuse me Scott731 -- Vrana was there to help out at a time with so many ailing players -- not to "replace" any "currently better player". During this period he was not given the opportunity to show this team what he can potentially do for them -- Sutter moved him off the lines with the veterans and gave him a couple of minutes a game. Bergfors did NOT perform any better -- are you watching the same games as me? Bergfors was also not given the opportunity to show his worth. These guys are rookies -- they need a period of adjustment as does everyone playing on a new team, a new league. Cut them some slack and as for your comment on what the league thinks -- time will tell -- it does NOT speak volumes to me.

[Nick]

I think we need to bring Anssi back up, him and Greene along with Martin on the powerplay would be great. The whole five fowards thing on the powerplay is not working, and Rolston seemed to be creating chances when he was down low. I think his shot would be deadly from around the circle or down low, even more so then at the point. We need defenseman on the point to control the puck. Greene was playing great before he went down, and I think Anssi had a great shot that just needs some work. And Martin is just an extremely gifted player.

[AK47]

I would agree with some of you, and I feel the same about Vrana have a chance to play more time with top lines but it is always about defence then offence. Vrana was lost in our zone many times and he played against 4th line. You can learn to score especially if you have a skills to do it but its what you do without the puck and ofcourse how comfortable you feel in your own zone.