Vanek asks for spot on Wild's top line, now he's expected to produce

Mike Yeo is the master communicator. Players may not always like what he has to say, but they always know where they stand.

After every practice, the Wild coach's routine is to grab players for one-on-one conversations, some designed to praise, some to motivate, some to send a message.

Saturday, Yeo grabbed Darcy Kuemper, Nino Niederreiter and Charlie Coyle. The more serious discussions occur behind closed doors, and Saturday, Yeo had one with struggling veteran Thomas Vanek.

Vanek, 30, a former Gopher, is on pace for the worst season of his career. He is tied for third on the Wild with 14 points, but the longtime goal scorer has just two goals, none at 5-on-5. Worse yet, he has 39 shots in 25 games (1.6 per game), including two or fewer in 22 games, one or none in 16.

So, this is not just a streaky scorer in a slump. For a multitude of reasons, including Vanek's propensity for giveaways, his being relegated to the third line, and the off-ice distraction that has come with being involved in an illegal football betting ring that has led to the conviction of two men for a variety of crimes, Vanek isn't playing well.

So Yeo had what he termed a "great talk" with Vanek before practice in which Yeo basically pulled out the Jerry Maguire line, "Help me help you."

"This stuff that he's trying to deal with, I don't want to say it's a huge distraction, but it's got to be weighing on him," Yeo said. "There's the fact that he came [back to Minnesota] and he's putting pressure on himself, he's been bouncing around from different lines, he's off the top power play now, there's a number of things that could lead to him not feeling good about his game.

Vanek promised if Yeo put him back in a top-six role, he would reward the coach for his trust. So in Saturday's practice, Vanek was extricated from Nino Niederreiter and Kyle Brodziak's side and put on the top line with Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund.

That's where Vanek will skate when the Wild hosts one of Vanek's former teams, the New York Islanders, on Tuesday. Mikko Koivu will center Jason Zucker and Jason Pominville, Charlie Coyle will center Niederreiter and Erik Haula, and Brodziak will center Ryan Carter and Justin Fontaine.

"I have a good opportunity now with Granny and Zach and I've got to make the most out of it," Vanek said. "I don't want to use an excuse, but when you play on one of the lower lines, for me it's a different situation. You don't get in the game as well as you want. Some guys are great with it.

"You look at a guy like Carter who doesn't play a lot, but he just does it. I've got to be better at that. Now being with two guys who make plays and score goals, I'm excited for the opportunity."

Yeo made clear though to Vanek that he needs to be better. That doesn't just mean scoring goals and shooting pucks. That means not turning pucks over and skating harder.

"The message was, 'You do those things and we'll take care of our part.' "

Yeo believes Parise can help Vanek find his game.

"Thomas is too important for us," Yeo said. "The easy thing to do is say it's not working [and cast him aside], but then we're not doing our job. If it's not working, we have to look at what can we do differently. We'll continue to try to find answers."

In July, Vanek, who lost a lot of money betting football games, testified to a New York grand jury in a federal case that led to the indictment of three alleged bookmakers. Two of those men have pled guilty. Vanek hasn't been charged with any crime and hasn't been disciplined by the NHL because there are no allegations he bet on hockey. But lawyers for the bookies keep tossing Vanek's name out in public, one saying Friday that Vanek owed upward of $10 million.

Vanek's agent vehemently denied that figure and said Vanek was being extorted by these men. Vanek admits the whole ordeal has affected his play.

"I can't change it. I can't do anything about it. Obviously it's a story. It's nothing I'd wish upon anyone and I've dealt with this since the summer and made amends to it. Is it something I'm happy keeps coming up? Obviously not. But for me the best way to get out of this is to play good hockey and find my groove.