Wild land forward Thomas Vanek with 3-year deal
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The Minnesota Wild have made another splash in free agency.
Thomas Vanek, one of the top players available when the NHL market opened Tuesday, agreed to terms on a three-year contract with the Wild shortly after free agency officially began. The left wing will get a chance to settle in after playing for three teams last season.
The Wild signed Zach Parise and Ryan Suter as free agents two years ago. This wasn't quite as big of a buzz, with Vanek long assumed to be interested in signing with Minnesota, where he has a summer home, but he gives the Wild more star power after their breakthrough season that ended with a six-game loss to Chicago in the Western Conference semifinals.
Vanek has 277 goals in 663 career NHL games, the type of potentially prolific scorer the Wild could use to supplement an improved-but-not-dominant attack led by Parise, Jason Pominville, Charlie Coyle, Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund.
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The 30-year-old Vanek, a native of Austria, played two standout seasons at the University of Minnesota before turning pro with Buffalo in 2005. Vanek scored 40 goals for the Sabres in 2008 and last season totaled 27 goals over 78 games with three different teams. He was traded twice, first to the New York Islanders and then to Montreal. In the playoffs with the Canadiens, he had five goals and five assists in 17 games.
Buffalo took him with the fifth overall pick in 2003.
Defenseman Clayton Stoner was the first unrestricted free agent to depart the Wild, joining the Anaheim Ducks. Others in that category who played for the Wild in the postseason and weren't expected back: left wing Dany Heatley and goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. Left wing Matt Moulson re-signed with the Sabres.
Center Cody McCormick, who came with Moulson in the trade deadline deal in March, and defenseman Nate Prosser also became unrestricted free agents.
The Wild have Matt Dumba, the seventh overall pick in the 2012 draft, waiting in the wings on defense, but the free agency for Stoner and Prosser created an opening on the blue line behind Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon and Marco Scandella. Keith Ballard is also under contract.
