Eklund Rumor: Leafs and Pens in on Vanek

[Love]

Yes, he has 11 points in 15 games in 2018 so far. I forgot that secondary assists don't count now, thanks for pointing that out. If you've been watching games recently without thinking Hagelin has been excellent recently, I'd just say go rewatch the games.



Vanek is a soft, lazy, slow and 1-dimensional player. Oh wow, he has a better shot than Hagelin. Congrats, he sucks outside of that shot. He doesn't use that size at all and is insanely slower than Hagelin.



A. That's just a lie, Rutherford has said he only wants a center.
B. Vanek is a big player like Sheahan is a big player. He doesn't use his size at all.



No it doesn't. Vanek makes absolutely no sense for the Penguins. He brings nothing they need. If they need a guy with a shot and nothing else, why not just call up Sprong?



Vanek isn't better than Rust.

Vanek's shot isn't even anything special. He scores because he's a smart offensive player who is a brilliant net front presence. He's not some flashy sniper.

Maybe Rust is better, I don't know. Just weird that he can't put up good numbers considering his line mates. Points definitely aren't everything and I don't doubt he's a better player than Vanek offence aside, but offence is a big deal and Vanek is better at it than Rust.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Vanek's shot isn't even anything special. He scores because he's a smart offensive player who is a brilliant net front presence. He's not some flashy sniper.

Maybe Rust is better, I don't know. Just weird that he can't put up good numbers considering his line mates. Points definitely aren't everything and I don't doubt he's a better player than Vanek offence aside, but offence is a big deal and Vanek is better at it than Rust.

Vanek produces marginally more at ES than Rust does. In the last 2 years, Vanek is at a .475 ES points/game and Rust is at .436 ES points/game. Vanek's production is better because he gets massive powerplay points, while Rust is a defensive/grinding winger.

I'm really not interested in Vanek. If Hornqvist is out until the playoffs, then maybe, but it sounds like he'll be back in about 2 weeks. He's like oil and water with the Penguins system, and I imagine he's a player that Sullivan would absolutely hate to coach. The Penguins can't use the little cap space they have left on a player they don't even need.

 

[HasbeenHallzy]

How does Vanek make any sense for the Penguins? They need a center, this is their current lineup when healthy:

Sheary-Crosby-Rust
Hagelin-Malkin-Hornqvist
Guentzel-Sheahan-Kessel
Simon-Rowney-Reaves

Where does Vanek fit in here? On the 4th line?

Well, Hagelin is trash and Vanek isn't so I could see a spot pretty easily waiting for him on that second line. Vanek has 2 less points and more goals just this year than Hagelin has in his last 109games...

 

[Love]

Vanek produces marginally more at ES than Rust does. In the last 2 years, Vanek is at a .475 ES points/game and Rust is at .436 ES points/game. Vanek's production is better because he gets massive powerplay points, while Rust is a defensive/grinding winger.

I'm really not interested in Vanek. If Hornqvist is out until the playoffs, then maybe, but it sounds like he'll be back in about 2 weeks. He's like oil and water with the Penguins system, and I imagine he's a player that Sullivan would absolutely hate to coach. The Penguins can't use the little cap space they have left on a player they don't even need.

Yeah that totally makes sense.

 

[Braeden]

What would a package of Vanek+Gudbranson or Hutton bring us?

 

[Empoleon8771]

Well, Hagelin is trash and Vanek isn't so I could see a spot pretty easily waiting for him on that second line. Vanek has 2 less points and more goals just this year than Hagelin has in his last 109games...

Hagelin has looked phenomenal recently, he's not being bumped out of the lineup for a lazy, slow and soft 1-dimensional player like Vanek.

Hagelin is a defensive winger and Vanek gets a massive amount of PP points, how does it make sense to compare them based on point totals? Even if Vanek is better (he is better than Hagelin), it doesn't matter because Hagelin is a significantly better fit in that spot and on the Penguins than Vanek. I don't think it's a surprise that every Penguins fan is giving a hard pass on Vanek, Vanek would be an atrocious fit on the Penguins. Even ignoring the skating issues, Sullivan would despise Vanek because of how lazy he is.

Vanek should go to a slower western team that needs powerplay help. Both of the teams that Eklund mentioned aren't that, especially not the Penguins.

 

[HasbeenHallzy]

Hagelin has looked phenomenal recently, he's not being bumped out of the lineup for a lazy, slow and soft 1-dimensional player like Vanek.

Hagelin is a defensive winger and Vanek gets a massive amount of PP points, how does it make sense to compare them based on point totals? Even if Vanek is better (he is better than Hagelin), it doesn't matter because Hagelin is a significantly better fit in that spot and on the Penguins than Vanek. I don't think it's a surprise that every Penguins fan is giving a hard pass on Vanek, Vanek would be an atrocious fit on the Penguins. Even ignoring the skating issues, Sullivan would despise Vanek because of how lazy he is.

Vanek should go to a slower western team that needs powerplay help. Both of the teams that Eklund mentioned aren't that, especially not the Penguins.

I actually hope he goes to Pittsburgh and proves you wrong, much like he did most Canucks fans. But hey, to each their own

 

[OCPenguin]

Well, Hagelin is trash and Vanek isn't so I could see a spot pretty easily waiting for him on that second line. Vanek has 2 less points and more goals just this year than Hagelin has in his last 109games...

Dial it back. Hags is on a line with Malkin and Phil and is starting to produce some points. I know what I get with Hags. Vanek ... no one gets what he brings. He usually disappears after trades. Ask all the teams that have acquire him. He is actually trash.

 

[HasbeenHallzy]

Dial it back. Hags is on a line with Malkin and Phil and is starting to produce some points. I know what I get with Hags. Vanek ... no one gets what he brings. He usually disappears after trades. Ask all the teams that have acquire him. He is actually trash.

Traded twice at the deadline... 28pts in 38Gp in the games after being dealt. 10 in 17 in the playoffs.... Sure

 

[Roksta]

No, I don't as a matter of fact. The Penguins aren't splitting up Hagelin-Malkin-Hornqvist and I'd much rather have Rust and Sheary in the Penguins top-9 than Vanek. Both Sheary and Rust fit the Penguins system dramatically better than Vanek does, and I'd argue that Rust is also a better player than Vanek because of how awful Vanek is away from the puck.



Sheary had a 70 point pace last year. To say Sheary just sucks is asininely dumb.

I did not say he was bad last year. But 7 pts in 22 games in the playoff and a 29 points pace this year while not providing anything else worth mentionning is kinda suckish.

But anyway I get your point on Vanek but if there's a cheap option to upgrade on Sheary on the market the pens shouldn't pass on it.

 

[OCPenguin]

Traded twice at the deadline... 28pts in 38Gp in the games after being dealt. 10 in 17 in the playoffs.... Sure

The dude has stolen a lot of money throughout his career by looking disinterested. Pittsburgh has no need to replace Hagelin, who has looked a lot better with Malkin and Kessel with an enigmatic Vanek, who takes many shifts off.

 

[Extra Texture]

What are you talking about? He's got 11 points mostly assists, and has only had 3 primaries since 2018 started. He played bad the first half but this isn't even 80% of what we saw a year prior. Vanek on the other hand brings size, a better shot. The only thing we'd lose is some forecheck pressure but our bottom six has plenty of PK guys that we don't need Hags. So yeah Vanek would be an upgrade. Plus GMJR says he's looking for a left winger with some size.. Makes sense to look at Vanek and move the over paid under performing player.

You're a Pens fan and you start off with "What are you talking about?" Have you seriously watched them since the Canes game? Hagelin was crap offensively for most of 2017. 2018 comes around and he gets put on a line that starts clicking once again. SURPRISE. His offensive games starts coming along...to the point where he more than doubles his point production for the season in the space of the last 15 games. So now that he's going and Geno/Phil are white hot playing off him (since PH went down) lets ship him out and get someone else?

We know he can hang with great offensive players (Geno, Kessel) and compliment their game perfectly. We know he can log big PK minutes and is defensively responsible. We know he fits the teams style. We know he can be trusted in tight games. And above all, we know the team is filling the net and rounding into form. In a vacuum, yeah, Vanek is a better offensive player. But I dont want to see Rutherford messing with (what is now) a good thing.

 

[Pyrophorus]

Doesn't play a lick of defence.

 

[LarKing]

It’s actually incredible how long a reputation can last with a player. Vanek isn’t lazy or bad defensively. I really don’t have a clue how anybody who’s watched him in the past two seasons could still claim this.

 

[Halla]

Leafs have Nylander,Marner,Hyman, JVR, Brown,Kapanen, Marleau,Komarov are the leafs wingers
where would Vanek fit? on the 3rd line and bumping brown down and kapanen out of the lineup? makes 0 sense

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

Christ no. I want nothing to do with vanek moooooo

 

[A1LeafNation]

Lol

 

[Mr. Met]

Vanek will land in one of the other 28 teams in the NHL

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

It has been confirmed that Eklund does in fact have sources.

Right.
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/forums/trade-rumors-and-free-agent-talk.3/?prefix_id=107

 

[Tom Hanks]

Vanek >>>>> Hags
So the second line.

I’ll take people who don’t watch the Penguins for $500 thanks Alex

Hagelin’s hair moves better than Vanek.

 

[Tom Hanks]

I did not say he was bad last year. But 7 pts in 22 games in the playoff and a 29 points pace this year while not providing anything else worth mentionning is kinda suckish.

But anyway I get your point on Vanek but if there's a cheap option to upgrade on Sheary on the market the pens shouldn't pass on it.

Hagelin played injured throughout the playoffs and it was a leg injury which negates one of his best assets.

If we are bringing in a LW it’s got to be a fast forechecker or a bigger guy that is strong on the boards but has to be able to skate too.

 

[Seanaconda]

Would love to see vanek on the pens power play. Guy is slow as dirt but is magic around the net. He would have to take hornqvists spot or whoever is on the left side / in front of the net spot ATM. Even strength you can try him anywhere he's just not fast .

 

[Tom Hanks]

Would love to see vanek on the pens power play. Guy is slow as dirt but is magic around the net. He would have to take hornqvists spot or whoever is on the left side / in front of the net spot ATM. Even strength you can try him anywhere he's just not fast .

So he’s going to replace the best net front guy in the league (who has 9PP goals) or Phil Kessel who leads the league in PP points on the #1 PP in the league?

 

[me2]

It has been confirmed that Eklund does in fact have sources.

Voices in your head don't count.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Stupid quetion, has Vanek ever played Center? If so, how was he?