The Jackets biggest need this deadline was scoring help up front. The Jackets said all along they did not want to overpay for a rental, which took them out of the centre market, and out of the running for some of the high scoring wingers like Rick Nash and Evander Kane. Goals are expensive, the Jackets though managed to find a goal scorer on the cheap in Thomas Vanek.
The price for Vanek was Tyler Motte and Jussi Jokinen. Motte at the time of his acquisition was thought of as an intriguing prospect and the Jackets had room up front to give him an opportunity. The Jackets gave him 31 games in the NHL, and it didn’t work. Motte is going to be 23 this month, he’s getting close to the point of this is what he is. He wasn’t going to get a shot to prove he could be a regular NHL player in Columbus. Vancouver as a rebuilding team can afford to give Motte a long look and see if he can get back to being a point producer like he was in the NCAA. Jokinen was a waiver claim, not much of a loss.
The cost was low, especially considering how good Vanek is offensively. Throughout his entire career Vanek has one of the most consistent scorers in the league. Since breaking into the league in 2005-06 Vanek has put up at least 40 points in every season. That’s 13 consecutive seasons. He is one of just five players over that span to do that, joining Alexander Ovechkin, Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Henrik Zetterberg.
Vanek in his prime was a really good scorer, someone who would score 25+ and in his best seasons score 40. He’s not that type of player anymore, he hasn’t scored 20 goals since 2014-15 but with 17 this season he has a good shot to reach it. Vanek is not elite shot generator. He has 121 shots, which per 60 minutes averages out to 8.52, 80th in the league among players who have played 800 minutes per Natural Stat Trick. Vanek scores because he is an elite finisher. He’s shooting 14% this season, right in line with his 14.3% career.
The Bruins (35-12-8) start off a five-game road trip in Western Canada against the Vancouver Canucks (22-30-6).
— Jeremy Perrigo (@jeremyperrigo) February 17, 2018
My player to watch is Thomas Vanek who is 2nd on his team in points at 39. The 34 year-old had a beautiful goal against Dallas last Sunday #BOSvsVAN pic.twitter.com/R50uumXNAI
Vanek is a good finisher partly because he doesn’t take a lot of bad shots. He is not usually going to just throw something on net. When he shoots he’s looking to score. If a shooting lane isn’t there, he will pass, and he's pretty good at that too.
That @T_Vanek26 pass is straight 🔥 pic.twitter.com/CLIZAMmtbz
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 18, 2018
Vanek is a strong offensive player, but it’s time to stop beating around the bush. We know why he went for as cheap as he did, it’s the same reason Columbus will be his eighth NHL team; he’s a disaster in his own zone.
This season Vanek has a 45.01% Corsi. He’s had just two seasons in his career above 50%. Looking at the left hand side of the chart you can that this season Vanek’s stats are down across the board. At 34 he’s clearly declining. His ability to score and put up points is still there, and that’s exactly what the Blue Jackets got him for.
One encouraging sign from this season, in a limited sample his micro stats look better than last season.
Vanek has been better at both exiting and entering the zone this season. Over a larger sample that might not continue but it’s something to keep an eye on.
On top of the poor underlying numbers, Vanek has always been dinged because a lot of his scoring comes on the power play. Vanek has 14 power play points this season, which would rank third on the Jackets behind Artemi Panarin and Seth Jones. Vanek’s points per 60 on the power play sits at 6.35, 26th in the league. It is by far the highest on the Jackets. The only players above 5.0 points/60 are Pierre-Luc Dubois at 5.95 and Jones at 5.5. Vanek is going to do wonders for this power play.
Thomas Vanek might only be a one-dimensional player, but that one dimension is exactly what the Blue Jackets are looking for. They need someone who can score and help their power play and that is what Vanek does. He’s a liability in his own zone and will need to be sheltered with offensive zone starts. The Jackets have plenty of solid two-way players who can cover those defensive minutes and allow John Tortorella to shelter Vanek the way he did with Sam Gagner last season. Vanek is going to be a big contributor for this team down the stretch.
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