Representatives for Jimmy Vesey today informed NSH their client will be exercising his right to unrestricted free agency on Aug. 15. #TSN
--Bob McKenzie
--Bob McKenzie
Vesey Signs with the Rangers
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
I believe Vesey's father works for Toronto and his brother was also drafted by the Leafs. That seems a likely destination.
Moral of this story for NHL teams is not to blow picks higher than the 6th or 7th round on Ivy league kids. More often than not they are going 4 years to school. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The only reason to draft an ivy league kid any higher is the Ryan Donato situation where he was talented and drafted by the local team.
The early rumors are that the Vesey sweepstakes will be a battle between the Leafs and Bruins. Felix is correct, Vesey's dad is a scout for TML and his brother was drafted in 2014 by the Leafs. The Leafs can also offer more of an immediate opportunity to play in a higher role on the team.
The Bruins are the his hometown team. His entire junior/college career has been played in Massachusetts. Belmont Hill/South Shore Kings/Harvard. The Bruins have strong connections with Harvard. Ted Donato is the Harvard coach. Donato and Sweeney played together at both Harvard and in Boston with the Bruins, and obviously the Bruins drafted Donato's son who played with Vesey. So there are angles here that work in the Bruins favor.
He wrote for TPT recently. Here's the link. If you want to read into things, he talks about his childhood dream of being drafted first overall by the Bruins, and how he's proud to be from Boston.
http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jimmy-vesey-harvard-hockey/
The Bruins are the his hometown team. His entire junior/college career has been played in Massachusetts. Belmont Hill/South Shore Kings/Harvard. The Bruins have strong connections with Harvard. Ted Donato is the Harvard coach. Donato and Sweeney played together at both Harvard and in Boston with the Bruins, and obviously the Bruins drafted Donato's son who played with Vesey. So there are angles here that work in the Bruins favor.
He wrote for TPT recently. Here's the link. If you want to read into things, he talks about his childhood dream of being drafted first overall by the Bruins, and how he's proud to be from Boston.
http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jimmy-vesey-harvard-hockey/
Matt Grzelcyk is also one of his best friends, so I could see him wanting to sign here. On the other hand it's going to be really tough for him not to sign with the team that his father works for, so my money is on him signing with the Leafs.
That would be a huge shock J44. Gryzelcyk is from Charlestown and has frequently talked about playing for the Bruins. I expect he will be signed shortly. He and Vesey have been friends since they were 6 years old so I'm really hoping that and all of the other factors that cshea wrote bring him here. I think he can play immediately in Boston if he is as good as he appears to be. The Preds were willing to put him in their top 6 for the remainder of the year. I could see him as an interesting Loui replacement that would allow them to spend elsewhere. Its Hockey East, but this kid scored 56 goals in his last 70 games at Harvard.
Question from someone who knows almost 0 of contract stuff, outside what I glean from here... Can Nashville trade his rights before August? (Or could Dealing Don trade for them, I guess is the better question). I am guessing no, or it would have been brought up by post 3 or 4. But ... um... asking for a friend.
Yes, Nashville can still trade him. They hold his rights until 8/15. However Poile, in his fit of rage last night, said he has no plans to trade him and that they'll continue to try to get him signed.
The best part is I'm pretty sure I meant to type "NCAA Hockey." Damn brain.
One other potential point in the Bruins favor is their growing track record of college seniors getting key minutes quickly for them. Krug is a fixture on this team and Acciari and Vatrano have seen significant time their first full year after signing.
Awesome, if true. 5 months until he can sign though so I wouldn't put too much stock in it. Friedman mentioned the Grz/Vesey package deal as a possibility for the B's in his 30 Notes column yesterday, so I guess fingers crossed that comes to fruition. Fluto is hearing Grz is likely to sign, so hopefully that is the first domino falling.
Projecting these Ncaa guys is tough. For every Dylan Larkin there are 100 guys who were just a big fish in a small pond. Vesey has such a high level of production that it's difficult to imagine him not being an nhl caliber forward. He's got good size, decent speed and a nice shot from the left side. I think he's a middle 6 nhl lw.
Alex Killorn feels like a decent comp. Same school, same draft position, same position.
Alex Killorn feels like a decent comp. Same school, same draft position, same position.
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I know Jimmy and several of his teammates, some of whom are in the Bruins organization already. I also know it was a priority for him to finish his degree, which is exactly what you want in a future alternate captain for the Boston Bruins.
I disagree. Guys with Harvard degrees are a dime a dozen in this league. It's nice, but the prerequisite that's really hard to find is someone who crashes the boards and doesn't rely on his skill. That's what Boston Bruins hockey is all about. If he understands that, and he understands what it means to play Boston Bruins hockey, then let's make sure this guy ends up a Boston Bruin. Just imagine five years down the road, and he's top 5 in both Hits and GPA for some other team. I think we can all agree that would be a worst case scenario.
Are there any tampering issues with the Bruins here? If I were Nashville I would be asking that.
I was wondering the same thing. I can't imagine that David Poile isn't (at least) looking for some kind of evidence.
I've read/heard some people over the past few days (Jeff Marek of Sportsnet in particular on MvsW) who have thought that Poile and the Preds public outrage over this is not so much them being surprised by Vesey's decision, but them setting the groundwork for a tampering charge. We'll see what happens when he signs in August. Tampering is hard to prove. With all the Harvard connections, I'd assume it was/is very easy for the Bruins to get back channel communications to/from the Vesey camp. Same goes for the Leafs.
I'd assume the Bruins will tread carefully from here on out. If not they are idiots.
Kirk has a lengthy Vesey podcast up on his blog. I'm about 30 minutes in, but it is very insightful.
Re-reading it I certainly veered into the weird there but the notion of "what you want in a Boston Bruins captain" makes me roll my eyes out of their sockets. A few lines of my post were references to the Seguin trade Behind the B video which I probably should have just posted on its own. There's this awful mentality a lot of the front office and fans have that Boston Bruins Hockey is this pristine brand of honor that only some players are worthy of representing, which is measured by arbitrary and mostly irrelevant qualities like crashing the boards, "not relying on skill," or in this case, staying a fourth year in college to get a degree.
The only reason I care that Vesey finished his degree is because it makes him eligible to sign with the Bruins. If he is a talented player like most seem to believe then I want him on the team. If he has that talent and is a good leader then he should be a captain someday. But it's obnoxious to suggest that he is this anointed alternate captain of the future because he prioritized his Harvard degree, as if that has any bearing on how good of an NHL player he will become. Just a massive pet peeve of mine when it comes to the Bruins.
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Is it just me or do the Predators look like assholes in this thing?
http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/15098502/reps-jimmy-vesey-dispute-predators-account-events-led-choosing-free-agency
Obviously, there is a he said/she said element going on, but regardless it is his decision. People change their minds sometimes. I think all the talk of tampering is just the Predators front office trying to save face.
http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/15098502/reps-jimmy-vesey-dispute-predators-account-events-led-choosing-free-agency
Obviously, there is a he said/she said element going on, but regardless it is his decision. People change their minds sometimes. I think all the talk of tampering is just the Predators front office trying to save face.
Without real proof of tampering it comes off as nothing but sour grapes, especially if the Preds were made aware of Vesey's decision in advance of the trade deadline as this article states. So far, the only talk of where Vesey could end up has been speculative, listing Toronto and Boston as options because his dad happens to work for one, and he happens to have grown up in the area of the other (and is buddies with a guy in that teams system). Big whoop, those are tenuous links at best, and are hardly indicative of 'tampering'.
The Steve Harris Herald report that Vesey will join the B's in the summer is really the only thing that approaches tampering. Hard to prove anything though.
I agree 100% on the A thing...While I do think there's something to be said for the type of player you want to lead your team, obviously having a degree from Harvard is irrelevant to that.
I do think the "we want grinders" meme is overplayed though. I think the front office (and fans) value toughness higher than in some other places, but I don't think it's some end all/be all characteristic. I think most franchises have a 'type' of player they prefer, and in Boston that's going to be someone who shows they can play tough. Some people act like the Bruins would prefer Shithead to Kessel, and that's just exaggeration
The Behind the B's video was a botched attempt at PR to cover a shitty situation. Tyler Seguin was (is?) and immature kid who disappeared for stretches of time on the ice while his off ice behavior veered from irresponsible to dangerous. The Bruins mishandled him and the situation horrifically but that has nothing to do with Jimmy Vesey or the current administration's approach to him.
I love how the dad is quoted as not wanting his son to go to the Bruins, but then "only" 4 paragraphs later mentions that the elder Vesey works for Toronto. And Adam Oates as the next coach, eh? Who else do they need to complete the goal of getting the whole coaching staff and management from the NHLPA 93 hockey game? Andy Moog? Glen Wesley? Stephen Leach? Bobby Carpenter?
It would be a major upset if he doesn't sign. You have to think they have this already locked up if they gave up a 3rd rounder for him.
If they already had it locked up, why not wait? This is an interesting development but I'm not sure it changes things a ton. Buffalo now has more incentive to give him a stupid offer so they will not have wasted a 3rd rounder, but I still think Toronto and Boston are favorites
Thing is, their offer is limited by the ELC max. They could go the Winnipeg route and offer him a 1 year ELC so he's up as an RFA and can pretty much name his price next offseason.
Peter Donatelli, who represents Jimmy Vesey, had this to say about the Buffalo Sabres acquiring the rights of his client from the Nashville Predators: "In our opinion, the only thing that has happened is now the Sabres have stepped into the shoes of Nashville for exclusive rights [to negotiate] until Aug. 15. However, at this time, it doesn't change Jimmy Vesey's intention to become a free agent on Aug. 15."
http://espn.go.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0536663518376628503-4
http://espn.go.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0536663518376628503-4
