ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Wild have decided to buy out the final year of left wing Thomas Vanek's contract.

The move was made Friday, a few hours before the NHL draft and a week before the beginning of free agency.

Vanek's disappointing two-year stint with Minnesota ended with 39 goals and 54 assists in 154 games with a minus-15 rating. His 18 goals last season were a career low, including the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, when he had 20 goals in 38 games in his last full season with the Buffalo Sabres.

The Austrian player signed a three-year, $19.5 million contract on July 1, 2014, with the Wild. He played at the University of Minnesota.