The Washington Capitals are in a salary cap bind after signing Evgeny Kuznetsov, TJ Oshie, and Dmitry Orlov to longterm contracts. With six roster spots open and only a little over $4 million left in cap space, players from the Hershey Bears will be expected to step in and fill multiple roles on the team.

Jakub Vrana is a player that has been touted as the future of the Caps, and although he had a chance last year filling in for Andre Burakovsky, Bears head coach Troy Mann was critical of his play at the end of the season, benching the forward at times in the regular season and playoffs.

Speaking with Czech outlet Aktuálně.cz, Vrana said he is entering his offseason training with the goal of filling in one of the blank spaces in the line-up.

“I don’t know what plans they have with me, but a window in the line-up has opened up,” Vrána said to Aktuálně.cz as translated by friend of the blog Philip Gleissner. “I aim for that, to approach my training with all I have.”

Before being drafted by the Capitals, Vrana was linemates with Boston Bruins forward David Pastrňák on the Czech National team. Pastrňák, drafted 12 spots after Vrana in the 2014 draft, cracked the Bruins lineup as a regular soon after. While the Capitals won back-to-back Presidents’ Trophies with a deep lineup, Vrana was forced to develop in the minors.

“Physically he’s a player for the NHL, but only if he mentally takes shape. His season has been a bit of a back and forth, but he has real skills,” Mann said. “He is the best hockey player that I have seen here in a long time.”

During Brian MacLellan’s conference call in early July, he stated that Vrana will have a chance next season.

“We’re going to give Vrana a shot – who has a legitimate ability to play in the top six level,” MacLellan said. “I think Vrana, on his first call up, played really well with Kuznetsov. The second he kind of faded a little bit.”

But Vrana said he is not certain what the team’s plans are for him next year, although he is aware of the openings in the top nine.

“Things are happening in Washington now. You know that I pursue it and I prepare for the season as well as I can. I want to make it onto the first team,” Vrana said to Aktuálně.cz. “After the season I had a conversation with the coach and based on that I have a very positive feeling. I don’t quite know what plans they have with me, they just don’t tell you, but I see that this window has opened in the second or third line. I want to reach for that, to approach my training the way that the spot is mine.”

Vrana did broadly agree with Mann’s end-of-the-season comments. He believes he is ready for NHL-level competition though admits to struggles jumping between the NHL and AHL level.

“Everyone has their own opinion on that, but yeah, I agree to a certain point. He’s the coach, he understands it. Mentally, this hasn’t been an easy season for me,” Vrana said. “I was hanging between the farm and the Capitals. I constantly changed teams, one moment I was on top and then at the bottom again. I couldn’t settle for a long time because it would be told by the performance. But I’m not apologizing, decisively not. More players have gone through that and maybe it’s a good thing. It strengthens a player. I simply had to come to terms with that.”

For now, Vrana is under contract for the next two seasons. He’s beginning his training in Prague and will spend a month in Sweden, where he once played for Linköping HC, before departing for DC.

“This year I played twenty-one [NHL] games. That was awesome. I felt great and the Capitals are a great team. I believe, that this year I will earn my place on the team,” Vrana said. “I can’t answer the question if I have what it takes. A player who tells you he doesn’t have what it takes lacks confidence. But, what I believe is that I want to play in the NHL this year.”

Headline Photo: Chris Gordon. Translations by Philip Gleissner.