Calgary Flames: Ten free agents they should target at Free Agency
By Ramina Shlah
2 – Tomas Vanek
Thomas Vanek is another player with lots of upsides. He shoots right (a bonus for the Calgary Flames), has over a decade worth of experience under his belt, and can provide great secondary-scoring. He has played for five different teams over the last four seasons, which isn’t exactly a bonus, but it shows that he doesn’t exactly need a whole lot of time to gel with a new group of guys.
Most of his points come at even-strength, which is again a bonus, especially on the bottom-six.
Vanek also has quite a few years of playoff experience and has 21 goals in 69 playoff games in his career. While his possession metrics aren’t that great, they seem decent when he actually plays on a decent team (who would have thunk, right?).
Vanek has managed to score 20+ goals in most of his full seasons. And in his shortened seasons, he still averages 20+ goals/game. At 34 years old, that’s still quite impressive. And since he is 34, no matter what team he goes to, it looks like it would most likely be a one-year contract.
He may be asking for roughly the same price he had last season ($2 million) and I’m not sure if he would fit in a top-six role with the Flames. He could potentially go on the top-line and provide that right show, but I’m not sure if the Flames would be willing to plant Elias Lindholm on a third line for someone like Vanek.
It’s somewhat of a gamble for Vanek, especially if he’s asking for more than $2 million, but I’d say it’s a good gamble.