The Florida Panthers Made Sure to Dip Their Feet in the Trade Pool Before the Trade Deadline on Tuesday. Florida Made Off With a Bargain Deal by Acquiring Thomas Vanek From the Red Wings.
The Florida Panthers added Thomas Vanek in an effort to aid their playoff push, and the cost was only a third round pick and Dylan McIlrath.
Thomas Vanek has been having a solid bounce back year after being bought out by the Minnesota Wild. Vanek currently has 15 goals 23 assists for 38 points in 48 games.
Vanek will add to a Florida attack that already consists of Jaromir Jagr, Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault, Jonathan Huberdeau and Jussi Jokinen.
The Panthers are currently on the outside of the playoff picture. But the team has been racing up the standings since the return of Huberdeau and Barkov from injuries.
The Bargain
The cost was very cheap. Considering what Patrick Eaves, Jannik Hansen and Alexandre Burrows have cost for other NHL teams, the Panthers can be happy they only sacrificed a 3rd round draft choice and a defenseman who has gone unclaimed on the waiver wire in Dylan McIlrath.
The Detroit Red Wings find themselves on the road less traveled being sellers, but they have added a massive amount of draft picks, and considering their track record at the draft it should pay dividends.
THN's Matt Larkin does have a good point. While it's comical, it still is worth mentioning.
It's expected that Vanek's recent playoff performances dwindled his value on the trade market. Vanek was acquired as a trade deadline rental by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2013-14 season. Following this, he did put up a decent five goal, five assist performance in 17 playoff games.
Two years ago, however, Vanek was invisible during Minnesota's 10 game playoff run going scoreless and adding only four assists.
The pick will be upgraded to a higher third round pick if Florida makes the playoffs. The pick will be Arizona's third rounder in 2017 in that case.
Adding scoring depth on the cheap is always a good bet therefore if Vanek can add some goals to the Panthers scoresheet, it will be considered a win.
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