Minnesota Wild Offseason: The Top Five Wild Stories of the Summer

3) Thomas Vanek is Healthy

Mar 27, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Thomas Vanek (26) celebrates his goal in the third period against the Calgary Flames at Xcel Energy Center. The Minnesota Wild beat the Calgary Flames 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Apparently Vanek, even while scoring 21 goals, had a down year. While for the normal player a 20+ goal season is great in this era, the issue here is that Vanek is not considered a normal player.

Given that he has a history of larger scoring campaigns and a huge contract with a cap hit of $6.5 million next season, everyone was expecting much more from Vanek in his first campaign with the Wild. I would agree with those expectations as his scoring prowess could have paid off big time in crucial situations, especially in the playoffs.

Fast-forward to June, Vanek had surgery to repair two sport hernias on his left groin. Recently he’s started skating again and has told Michael Russo, of the Star Tribune, that his skating feels great and he is ready for camp.

The hope here is that a healthy Vanek will go back to the old Vanek and will add 40+ goals to a line-up that could use a goal scoring boost. It is very likely he will score more, but regardless all of us will be focused in on him to see if it was the injures or something else.