If Vaaks was healthy, looked good to you last year, and didn't lack any confidence, then that's the best. His best really isn't all that. I'm hoping he's lacking confidence because then there could be a reason for improvement in his game, or at least replicate his good play in Boston this year before he got rocked on the ice and got injured in the process. Upon his return to play in Boston, he got two games and then no more; only to play in the NHL again in Anaheim a month later.
=== LotR version ===
I know Vaaks has had a concussion that derailed his development in 2018. In the 13 games he played with the Bruins this year, he looked good until he got rocked on Feb 1st. Vaaks was unable to duplicate his play after the injury when he returned to play. He only lasted 2 NHL games to not be seen again at the NHL level until he was traded to us.
Just like everyone else, I was excited to see Vaaks play. He's better than Mahura and Benoit. He's got great gap control. He's able to eat minutes like a top-4, an ATOI of 19:21 with us. Outside of that, Vaaks was non-descript. I just looked up his possession numbers in recent days and didn't realize he was worse than I recall on ice. Being better than Mahura and Benoit also isn't a ringing endorsement either.
My hopes is that he might have lost some confidence since that hit b/c we haven't seen that potential top-4 player that the Boston media was reporting about before his Feb injury. All the tools are there, but since that injury, Vaaks hasn't played like that yet. Same thing happened to Guhle such that he had a small stretch where he looked great flying up and down the ice until he got injured. Upon Guhle's return, he didn't quite play the same and has oft been injured.
I just don't see any upside if Vaaks was healthy, looked good on the ice, and lacked no confidence when he played with us. He's just an improved placeholder over Mahura and Benoit for something better.