Who is Jakub Vrana?

Photo by Allan Dranberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesWhen the Red Wings traded Anthony Mantha to the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline on Monday, a lot of the hockey pundits were very happy with the return GM Steve Yzerman got. One point I’ve seen repeated is that in overall terms, Jakub Vrana might actually be better than Anthony Mantha all by himself and that the additional value the Capitals gave up was about dumping Richard Panik’s contract.

We know what the Wings gave up in Mantha, but how about what they got in Vrana?

The #ALLCAPS acquired Anthony Mantha (Yr 1/4 $5.7M Cap Hit then UFA) from #LGRW for Richard Panik (Yr 2/4 $2.75M), Jakub Vrana (Yr 2/2 $3.35M then RFA), '21 1st…