Slumping Wild sitting 3rd-leading scorer Vanek

With losses in nine of their past 10 games the Minnesota Wild have fallen out of a playoff position in the Western Conference and are searching for answers. On the same day that their general manager gave coach Mike Yeo a vote of confidence, he seemed to indicate that some lineup changes might be coming, saying that the coaching staff has been “incredibly patient with certain individuals” (via Chad Graff of the Pioneer Press).

When the team’s lineup for Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues was announced, we seemed to get a clearer understanding of the individuals he might have been talking about.

The Wild announced that Thomas Vanek and Jason Zucker will both be scratched for their game against the Blues.

This is a pretty sharp message from the team because not only is Vanek the Wild’s third-leading scorer on the season (29 points in 51 games), he and Zucker combine to take up more than $7 million in cap space for the season.

Zucker, a player that scored 21 goals in only 51 games a year ago for the Wild, has 11 on the season, has not scored in 11 straight games and has managed just five shots on goal over the Wild’s past four games. So the decision to sit him is probably justified.

The same can be said for Vanek whose season has completely gone in the tank after a fast start that saw him record 19 points in his first 22 games. He has just 10 points in the 29 games that have followed and has been especially invisible in recent games.

Not only has he managed just a single point over the Wild’s past eight games, he has put just just six shots on goal during that stretch and has been held without one in five games while playing more than 17 minutes per night. That is almost impossible to do for a top-line player.

The Wild signed Vanek to a three-year contract in free agency before last season.

At 32 he’s not going to be the 40-goal scorer he was during his peak years in Buffalo, but he still has some talent and can be a productive player at times. But as he gets older he has had a lot of slumps like the one he is in now where he isn’t really bringing much to the lineup.

Thomas Vanek will not be playing for the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. (USATSI)

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