Here’s every NHL team’s player to watch break out this year
By Paul Grant
Washington Capitals: Jakub Vrana
Take it to the bank, people: This is the year for Jakub Vrana. He’s got the momentum, the style, the skills and the pending contract negotiations to motivate him to get the job done.
Vrana, the 13th overall pick by the Caps in 2014, scored a just-fine 13 goals and added 14 assists for 27 points while playing largely third-line minutes. But he will get a boost to the second line — which means getting feeds and rebounds from none other than Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie — this year under new coach Todd Reirden, who will want to put his own stamp on the team after taking over from Barry Trotz.
Even though he’s a left winger on a team that has one named Ovechkin ahead of him, the speedy Vrana will continue to build off his first full season and his pretty decent playoff showing, when all he did was help the Capitals win their first franchise Stanley Cup. He’s just 22, so he’s got time to break out, but the situation is setting up well to ensure this will be the season the talent Czech rises above the crowd.