The Draft Document featuring Thomas Vanek
Draft time is once again closing in upon us. Basically the “Christmas” of the
hockey world, every year at the end of June, all the teams from the NHL send
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their management to unwrap the gifts awaiting. Futures are decided in a moment;
not only for the teams but the players that are selected. It's time for our
weekly focus on this called the Draft Document. Every week, one young draft
eligible player will be given an in depth inspection. This week’s candidate;
Thomas Vanek.
Thomas Vanek, LW,
6’2, 205 lbs.
Shoots: Right
University of Minnesota, WCHA
When you mention the name Thomas Vanek to any scout he will be described in
two ways. The first is “skilled”. Vanek is one of the more pure offensive weapons
in what is being dubbed the best draft in the last 20 years. Vanek is blessed
with a fantastic shot and is simply awe inspiring with the puck. If the game
was played solely in the offensive zone, Vanek might very well be a top five
selection come June.
The second description is “Lack of work ethic." This is such a concern
that it causes many to reconsider whether Vanek is worth taking a chance on
with such a high pick. Scouts view Vanek as an immense talent who will struggle
to reach his potential due to his effort level. Thus the dilemma facing teams
come draft day; do they take a chance on Thomas realizing his potential, or
do they pass because he could nothing more then a one trick pony with a great
shot?
The Upside: Pure offense. Vanek can do almost anything with the puck
on his stick and is already viewed as Minnesota’s most dangerous player. Vanek
has a very hard shot that he can release quickly and is very accurate, however,
he is not limited to scoring on the rush. Vanek will go hard to the net and
dig for rebounds, taking a pounding for a goal. On the powerplay, Vanek often
takes his game up a notch. He is a threat off the boards with his shot and release
and is very dangerous on the one-timer which is worked to perfection due to
Vanek’s uncanny accuracy. In fact, this has helped him to already pass the 20
goal mark in the WCHA, with a slim chance to catch Minnesota’s John Mayasich
for the record of 32 goals by a rookie - a mark which has stood now for over
50 years. Vanek also possesses good size and has shown that he is difficult
to knock off the puck. He will occasionally use his size to throw a hit, though
it is rare.
The Downside: There are two big marks against Vanek that won’t go away:
his work ethic and his commitment to defense. Golden Gophers assistant coach
Bob Motzko, who also coached Vanek with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede for
three seasons, says his work ethic is not an issue. Yet for every person who
says his work ethic is fine, someone else will say it is far from acceptable.
Some of this might be just an old label being hard to remove, but the issue
is there nevertheless. The fact that he is sometimes guilty of being irresponsible
on the backcheck has not helped him either. His defensive commitment or lack
thereof, is where his poor efforts show up most. Vanek has admitted this is
a problem and is something he would like to work on, along with his puck moving
& passing decisions. His neutral zone passes have caused far too many turnovers
as well as being a bit of a puck hog are two other issues he must deal with.
Despite these shortcomings, when you are the teams leading scorer and have
a history of being a big time point producer, you can get away with that once
in a while. Vanek also lacks a top gear - that extra speed to set him apart
from would-be checkers and defensemen that if he doesn’t correct this it could
be a burden to him down at the NHL level.
Analysis: Vanek's talent is so high, the Slovaks wanted to give him
citizenship so he could play for them in international competition. Thomas’s
father was a player in the Elite league, otherwise known as the First League
of the former country of Czechoslovakia. In the end Vanek turned them down wanting
to remain an Austrian, but it does illustrate how much talent he has and how
recognized it is. It is this talent that allows Vanek to dominate at every level
he has played. Currently sitting as a potential top 10 pick for the draft scheduled
to go in Nashville, it is now up to him to prove it is not wasted talent.
Some say Vanek should be a top 10 pick, while others say late first round.
It will come down to whether a team decides his scoring prowess outweighs his
alleged poor work ethic. Regardless of what scouts say about him, there is one
fact nobody doubts: Vanek will be as good as he wants to be. The sky is the
limit, and if he works hard, he will develop into a dominant NHL'er.
Check in next week for another addition of the Draft Document.
Special thanks to Iain Morrell, Robert Neuhauser and John Sanful for their
contributions.