Minnesota Wild: How Long Will the Wild Hold onto Vanek and Pominville?

Should the Minnesota Wild not have a successful season in 2016-17 there could be major changes with the team’s roster. The most obvious changes would be the exit of Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville.

First things first, the Minnesota Wild absolutely have the talent (and plenty of young talent at that) to have a bounce back season next year. However, should the team fall prey to habits which have plagued this franchise for years (mid-season slumps, lack of scoring to name a few) and endure another disappointing finish the team should highly consider substantial changes to the roster.

The best players on the Wild currently are, and in no particular order, Parise, Koivu, Suter, Coyle, and Niederreiter. They are most likely safe from going anywhere which makes sense given that Parise, Koivu, and Suter are still productive and under contract for the foreseeable future. In addition, Niederreiter and Coyle are just entering their prime years and coming off 20 plus goal seasons. Not to say that these players can’t have a down season and find themselves elsewhere after next season, but it is unlikely.

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That leaves Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville as players who could be playing elsewhere. There is a possibility that both these players could even find themselves on another team as early as next season.

The future does not look promising for either player after this past season. Vanek enjoyed the worst full season of his career and Pominville had the second worst year of his career. Given the fact that both are on the wrong side of 30 (Vanek will turn 33 next year and Pominville 34) and have been in decline for the past two seasons, there is very little realistic hope that either will play up to their contracts.

Vanek is the easiest for the team to let go, as he is an unrestricted free agent after this season. As said before, the Wild may even decide they have had enough of watching Vanek labor up and down the rink after this past season and buy him out in the next couple of days. His play hurts the Wild defensively, and to boot he’s not putting the puck in the back of the net at the rate expected of him.

However, given that a majority of the team had a down season last year, new coach Bruce Boudreau may decide to give Vanek one last chance to prove his worth. If he is around to start next season, the smart move would be to give Vanek a top 6 role and if he produces, great, if he doesn’t then he can watch from the press box until he is traded. The leash on Vanek should be short as he is the type of player who loses focus easily so after a few games of dogging it. Boudreau should not hesitate to sit him if that situation materializes. That could also go far to set the tone as to what the head coach expects out of his players.

There is more hope that Pominville can turn it around and still prove his worth to this team. After all, he is coming off a post season in which he showed chemistry with Erik Haula and Nino Niederreiter, resulting in him leading the team in playoff scoring with seven points. He is also not nearly the defensive liability Vanek is. The Wild had better hope that he turns it around because his contract still runs for three more years and should his decline continue, those years could get ugly for a player they are paying in excess of $5 million a year.

Next: Will Offseason Moves Actually Be Huge?

Buying out Pominville would present many more problems than it would to buyout Vanek, so if the team has to choose, that would be the best course of action. Pominville also represents the better bet to bounce back from a rough season, however if he does not produce next year, the team would be well served to trade him and at least recoup some value, while at the same time freeing up his salary to be used elsewhere.

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