The Detroit Red Wings and Jakub Vrana agreed to terms on a three-year deal just one day before the sides were scheduled to go to salary arbitration, the team announced on Tuesday.
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.ca, the deal is worth $15.75 million, an annual average salary of $5.25 million.
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Vrana joined the Red Wings at last season’s trade deadline in the deal that sent Anthony Mantha to Washington. Last offseason, Mantha signed a four-year, $22.8 million extension, with an average annual salary of $5.7 million.
The 25-year-old Vrana showed some top-six-forward ability, scoring eight goals and 11 points in 11 games with the Wings, including four goals against Dallas on April 22. Over 50 games last year, Vrana had 19 goals, 36 points and a plus-10 rating.
He then scored two goals and four points in seven games for the Czech Republic in the World Championships. His best NHL season was 2019-20, when he scored 25 goals and 52 points in 69 games.
It has been a busy offseason for Wings general manager Steve Yzerman, late last month re-signed forward Tyler Bertuzzi for two years and $9.5 million. Yzerman also extended forward Sam Gagner and defenseman Marc Staal, and added forward Pius Suter, defenseman Jordan Oesterle and traded for defenseman Nick Leddy and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.
Forward Adam Erne remains an unsigned restricted free agent.
Vrana figures to be in the mix for a top scoring line along with Bertuzzi, Suter, Dylan Larkin, Filip Zadina and Robby Fabbri.
Contact Kirkland Crawford: kcrawford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @HiKirkHere.