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The Florida Panthers Should Move On From Thomas Vanek

By Daniel Janicas

Mar 14, 2017; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Thomas Vanek (26) skates with the puck in the third period of a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at BB&T Center. The Panthers won 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 14, 2017; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Thomas Vanek (26) skates with the puck in the third period of a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at BB&T Center. The Panthers won 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports /
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Thomas Vanek was acquired to bring in some scoring for the team. Unfortunately, his addition to the team didn’t offer much as he only put up 2 goals, 8 assists, and 10 points in 20 games played with the Panthers.

To be fair, Thomas started the season playing with a below par Detroit Red Wings. He was expected to produce the majority of the scoring for a decimated Red Wings team. They often struggled finding the back of the net, but Vanek managed putting 15 in the back of the net. Quite impressive considering the team he was on.

On trade deadline day, Dale Tallon brought in Thomas with hopes too spark our offense. Unfortunately, he only managed to score 2 goals in 20 games. Vanek’s presence was never truly felt during his short stay with the Cats.

He ended the season off with a below average CF% of 47.53%. This number doesn’t surprise me at all considering how poor the Panthers and Red Wings where this past season. Thomas has always had an “eye for goal”, but what about his defensive side to the game? An area of concern would surely be his defensive efforts.

Often throughout games, I would see him coasting or leisure skating when back checking. I found at times that Vanek was “lazy” and “lacked motivation” when on the ice. Countless amounts of plays did I see him going through the motions when pressuring the opponents defense. Overall, he mainly lacked a sense for urgency. My take on this would be: “no matter how bad the game is or how bad you’re playing, you need to keep your feet moving at all times”.

Let’s take a look at his advanced defensive numbers. First, Thomas ended with a xGA60 (expected goals against per 60 minutes) of 3.28. His xGF60 (expected goals for per 60 minutes) was 2.82. What does this mean? This means that per 60 minutes of play, Vanek is giving up/on the ice for more goals against then he is for more goals scored.

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Finally, will compare his “scoring chances for” to his “scoring chances against”. His SCF60 (per 60 minutes) was 10.21. On the other hand, his SCA60 was 11.56 meaning that he was on the ice for more chances against his team, then scoring chances for his team. We can conclude from this by saying that Thomas was stuck in the defensive zone giving up more chances, then he was in the offensive zone creating more chances.

Dale Tallon will have a big decision to make come July 1st. Personally, I would rather let Vanek walk and replace him with a younger, speedier winger. I think it would be unfair to say that his time here was a “bust” or “failure”, considering he only played 20 games with us. However, I think it would fair to say that finding a replacement who’s younger and cheaper wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

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