Derek Lalonde releases latest news on Jakub Vrana

The Detroit Red Wings have been without the services of goal scoring forward Jakub Vrana since October 19 when it was announced that he would be entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program due to an undisclosed personal issue. 

The program may sound familiar to Red Wings fans, as prior to his arrival in the Motor City, former Ottawa Senators forward Bobby Ryan entered the program for assistance with a substance abuse issue. Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price recently did the same.

Ahead of tonight's game against the Minnesota Wild, head coach Derek Lalonde was asked if he'd heard any updates regarding Vrana's status. 

"No updates at all," he said. "We hope to hear maybe the PA or the league, make a statement here soon."

"We are waiting to hear ourselves," Lalonde continued. "I don’t know what the protocol is. This is uncharted territory for us, too."

The Red Wings could certainly use Vrana's offensive touch. After his return to action last year after having suffered a shoulder injury during the first day of Training Camp, Vrana lit the lamp with the consistency of what would have been a 35-40+ goal campaign. He tallied in the most recent game that he played for Detroit on October 15 against the New Jersey Devils, sniping a beautiful shot past goaltender Vitek Vanecek: 

Of course, the most important thing is that Vrana gets himself right with whatever issue that he's battling before we can think about a return to hockey.