Thomas Vanek looking like a better fit with Red Wings ... so far

It's early, and it's not like the Wild (12 goals in three games, two of them victories) has been missing Thomas Vanek.

But it's also worth noting that the veteran forward, whose production declined during his two seasons with the Wild to the point that Minnesota bought out his contract in June, has at least temporarily rediscovered his scoring touch with his new team, Detroit.

Through three games entering Wednesday, Vanek already had two goals and three assists while registering as a plus-2.

This is where we need to double-down on the disclaimers in that not only is it early but also Vanek had a similarly good start for the Wild last season (four goals in his first seven games and a 9-8-17 line through his first 20) before finishing with just 41 points for the season in 74 games.

But his early play has been enough to garner attention — including a recent NHL.com feature about Detroit's relatively low-risk investment in Vanek with a one-year, $2.6 million deal that is so far being rewarded. Per the feature:

"I wanted Thomas Vanek on this team," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "He brings an elite offensive ability that's hard to get when you don't draft high. … I just said that I thought the things that he was good at were things that we could really use, and if he worked, if he paid attention to detail, if he played defense, it was going to work out great."

Vanek, for his part, echoed some of the things he had said after his departure from the Wild in talking to NHL.com.

It's hard to say whether Vanek would have been a better fit in new coach Bruce Boudreau's more offensive-minded system, but it stands to reason that it would have suited him better than the style under old coach Mike Yeo.

That said, the buyout came after the Boudreau hire — and the cap space it created helped the Wild sign Eric Staal. Though Staal doesn't have eye-popping early numbers (one goal, no assists in three games), he has been praised for his all-around play and is the center on the top line of a team averaging four goals per game (again, albeit in a small sample size).