Boston Bruins Free Agency 2016: Thomas Vanek Could Re-Vitalize the Bruins Top-Six
With all the discussion about Milan Lucic, Loui Eriksson, and Jimmy Vesey leading the way in terms of possible Bruins’ left wing options next season, one name that seemingly gets forgotten is Thomas Vanek. After being recently bought out by his home-state team of Minnesota, Vanek is a free agent who could come at a low cost with very high upside.
While Vanek is not worth the $6.5 million cap hit per season that he signed for with Minnesota, he certainly has something left in the tank that the Bruins can capitalize on. Offering the former 40-goal scorer a one year contract worth something in the vicinity of $2 million could be enough to lure him to Boston. Expecting Vanek to step into a top-six role would be unrealistic, but signing him as a third line winger could benefit both Vanek, and the Bruins.
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In addition to a third-line role, Vanek could be a solid contributor on the Bruins power play. With Loui Eriksson potentially wearing a different uniform next season, a very important power play spot will become vacant. Since the 2008-09 season, the only players in the league to score more power play goals than Vanek’s 79 are Alexander Ovechkin with 134, Steven Stamkos with 107, and Joe Pavelski with 81.
While Vanek won’t be a long-term fix by any stretch of the imagination at 32 years old, he could provide the Bruins a nice stop-gap for one season while they continue to develop their current prospects.
Last season, Vanek scored 18 goals and added 23 assists for 41 points in 74 games. In the previous season, Vanek scored 21 goals and added 31 assists for 52 points in 80 games. Rejoining the Eastern Conference might be best for Vanek however, as he spent years dominating the point column in his time with the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, and Montreal Canadiens. In 663 games in the Eastern Conference, Vanek scored 310 goals and added 279 assists for 589 points.
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Vanek won’t instantly make the Bruins contenders by himself, but he could be a very good low-risk, high-reward candidate that, if coupled with the right complimentary pieces, could in turn help the Bruins. Defense will remain to be the Bruins priority this off-season, and the team will definitely need to also look for right wing options, but Vanek should at least be considered.