Canucks sign veteran forward Thomas Vanek to one year deal worth US$2 million

FILE: Vanek pictured during his time with Buffalo (Photo By Giants27 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)

VANCOUVER — Veteran forward Thomas Vanek and the Vancouver Canucks agreed to a one-year contract on Friday worth US$2 million.

The 33-year-old Vanek had 17 goals and 31 assists in 68 games split between Florida (2-8-10 in 20 games) and Detroit (15-23-38 in 48 games) last season. Vanek has ranked 10th in goals (333) and second in power-play goals (129) since entering the NHL in 2006-07.

“Thomas has been a prolific scorer throughout his career and we’re excited to add his offence and experience to help with the continued growth of our forwards,” said Canucks general manager Jim Benning. “His skill and ability to contribute on the scoresheet, combined with his lead-by-example style will help our team this year, and will benefit our younger players as they continue to develop their game.”

In 885 NHL regular-season games split between Florida, Detroit, Minnesota, Montreal, the New York Islanders, and Buffalo, Vanek has 333 goals and 364 assists.

A native of Vienna, Austria, Vanek was originally selected by Buffalo in the first round (fifth overall) at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.