Holy Cow, poor Thomas Vanek has become the whipping boy, and the reason for the demise of two teams, if not three. That might be an exaggeration, just a bit.
Josh Elliot, the Hockey News -- First, he was the sacrificial lamb (one of them) for the rebuilding Sabres. Then, he was expected to help John Tavares put the New York Islanders over top and get them into the playoffs. Next, after the losses and the contract offers piled up on Long Island, he was the guy they just couldn’t pay to stay. And off he went to Montreal, where he would help them to the playoffs before earning the goat horns in the Habs’ third-round elimination.
Vanek wasn’t terrible in Montreal. He wasn’t the reason they lost. But he didn’t help much when it mattered, either. The Austrian put up five goals and 10 points in 17 games. That’s OK, but nowhere near his 27-goal, 68-point regular season pace. And with just two points in his final seven playoff games, there’s no denying he pulled a disappearing act. Maybe his mind was in Minnesota, but more likely (he’s a professional, after all) he suffered an injury that we’ll hear about in the coming weeks.
But injury or not, just look at the carnage in his wake. The perennially-rebuilding Islanders are down a first-round pick in the Connor McDavid draft next year. They also lost a second-rounder in the Buffalo trade, and while they recouped it when they sent Vanek to Montreal, the Habs’ pick won’t be as high as the Islanders’ one would have been. And what else do they have? Only 2012 second-round pick Sebastian Collberg, and a fifth-round pick.
Oh, and the Islanders have another gaffe to hang on Garth Snow – one that nears Mike Milbury-esque levels of catastrophe.
