While everyone watches closely and awaits a decision from Harvard product and free agent Jimmy Vesey, another college name is garnering a lot of attention from teams around the league. Thomas DiPauli, the Notre Dame winger and former Washington Capitals draft pick is also a free agent, and according to Mark Divver of The Providence Journal there is currently interest from half a dozen teams, and he won’t go unsigned long.
Back in July, we profiled DiPauli after he declared his intention to test free agency, and he was recently ranked #2 on our top college free agents, behind only Vesey. DiPauli isn’t the scoring threat that Vesey is, but does profile as a solid contributor in the bottom six, with the capability of scoring 10-15 goals in the NHL. His two-way style is always sought after as teams look to roll four lines more often in today’s NHL.
Should DiPauli sign somewhere in the next few days, he’ll be added to the list of positives for that team in the Vesey sweepstakes, as the two share an agent and are both graduates of the US Development Program. One could speculate that at least some of the same teams that are after Vesey are the ones in the hunt for DiPauli as well, as teams look to get essentially “free” young talent.