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Jimmy Vesey

East Notes: Bourque, Vesey, Cullen

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After being arrested last month on DUI charges, former Boston Bruin great Ray Bourque will appear in court today try and resolve the charge reports The Denver Post. Bourque, now 55, rear-ended a minivan on June 24th while his blood-alcohol level was 0.249, three times the legal limit. Here is some more news from the Eastern Conference:

  • Kristen Shilton of TSN gives us another snippet in the Jimmy Vesey saga, this time from brother Nolan who is participating in Leafs development camp. “Jimmy’s going to make his own decision. August 15th comes around and he’ll make the best decision for himself.” said Nolan Vesey, before admitting he has thought about the idea of playing with his brother.  Jim Vesey Sr. is also a part of Leafs camp, as the team hired him on as a scout late last year.
  • Despite currently projecting as over next year’s salary cap, Penguins’ GM Jim Rutherford told Josh Yohe of DK Pittsburgh Sports (subscription needed) that he still believes he can fit Matt Cullen and Justin Schultz in, should they decide to return.  The 39-year old Cullen has yet to make up his mind about a potential retirement, and Schultz was recently not tendered a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. We recently included him on our top five remaining options for the blueline.

Snapshots: Russell, Vesey, Forsling

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After rumors swirled the past two days indicating that the Maple Leafs had offered a contract to free agent defenseman Kris Russell, agent Allain Roy took to Twitter to set the record straight:  “Reports of Kris Russell turning down any offer from the Maple Leafs are false. Simply rumors…”  The former member of the Dallas Stars is still available as of Sunday evening, and ranked 12th on our Top 50 UFA list last month.  Here is some more news from around the league:

Vesey Remains Committed To Free Agency

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Jimmy Vesey will wait a little longer before deciding his future.

The Harvard grad says he’s committed to becoming an unrestricted free agent, but that won’t happen until August 15. The end-of-summer signing period won’t prevent him from being heavily sought-after. While Vesey has never publicly revealed his shortlist, Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe reports Toronto, Boston, Buffalo, both New York teams, New Jersey, and “potentially” St. Louis and Philadelphia having potentially having major interest.

Vesey was drafted 66th overall in 2012 by the Nashville Predators. He played 4 seasons post-draft at Harvard, posting 144 points in 128 games. But when it came time to sign his entry-level contract with the Predators, Vesey declined to put pen to paper, despite allegedly saying he would. Not wanting to lose a good prospect for nothing, the Predators traded Vesey to Buffalo for the 70th pick in this year’s entry draft, recouping the draft pick they spent on Vesey but not the four years of development.

According to Frank Seravalli of TSN, the Sabres plan on making their pitch to Vesey sometime this week, with hopes of convincing him to sign and play with his good friend, Jack Eichel. Vesey and Eichel have been playing together on a summer league team for years now, and Eichel has already given Vesey the talk about Buffalo. However, Vesey’s agent confirmed that free agency is still the plan.

Despite being done school, Vesey will spend his summer doing homework on where he wants to sign. He has family connections in Toronto, with his dad working with the Maple Leafs and his brother being drafted by them. He’s spent four seasons playing in Massachusetts. His good friend plays with Buffalo.

All of the above-listed teams have room for Vesey in their top 6 forwards, and will be getting a highly-motivated player.

Sens’ Prospect Colin White Headed Back To NCAA

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According to a report from Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Senators’ prospect and former first-round pick Colin White has decided to go back to Boston College this season. The 19-year old was considered a possibility to crack the team’s NHL roster, but has decided to return to the Eagles for 2016-17.

White, selected 21st overall in 2015, exploded onto the college scene last season with 43 points in 37 games as a freshman. His 19 goals ranked third on the team, and those 43 points put him fifth in the entire H-East division.

While this shouldn’t scare any Senator fans, and doesn’t deserve any comparisons to the recent comments of Jimmy Vesey about hitting free agency, White did have a chance at cracking the roster as early as this season.  Boston College is an outstanding program that will take control of his development for another season, and he should see an increased role in their offense as they go after another national championship.

Fellow Boston College standout Ian McCoshen recently signed on with the Florida Panthers after three seasons in college, and White may take a similar path.

Snapshots: Malkin, Vesey, Columbus, Trade Talk

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Surgery will not be necessary for Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin writes the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Seth Rorabaugh. An MRI revealed that an unspecified injury on March 11 would not require surgery to Malkin’s elbow. Malkin, who has been the subject of trade rumors, played through the injury since March and only missed one postseason game as a result.

In other NHL news:

  • CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty reports that despite having his rights traded to Buffalo, Hobey Baker Trophy winner Jimmy Vesey shouldn’t be counted out of signing with Boston. The Massachusetts native was drafted in the third round by Nashville in 2012, but never signed with the Preds. His rights were traded to Buffalo this past week, and although he had Buffalo on his shortlist, many analysts are convinced Vesey will reach free agency on August 15. Haggerty stressed that the Vesey camp has been difficult to predict so anything is possible. But reading between the lines, and listening to his agent, it sounds as if Vesey will take a thanks, but no thanks approach to Buffalo’s overtures.
  • Columbus might be looking to move up in the draft writes Craig Hagerman.  The Blue Jackets currently own the #3 overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, but are interested in jumping to one of the top 2 spots according to Columbus Dispatch writer Aaron Portzline. Portzline points out that the asking price would still be significant should the Jackets climb in the draft, but it wouldn’t be as insane as last year’s attempts when Connor McDavid was the expected (and eventual) #1 pick.
  • Pioneer Press writer Chad Graff indicates that with the expansion draft now a reality, trade talk will ramp up during the draft. Due to limitations of the players that can be protected, Graff writes that GMs are trying to offload players they could lose for nothing. Additionally, Graff quotes Minnesota general manager Chuck Fletcher as saying the Las Vegas team will be more competitive out of the gate than any previous expansion team due to the league’s new financial structure.

Free Agent Focus: Buffalo Sabres

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The 2015-2016 Buffalo Sabres finished with a 35-36-11 record, good for 81 points and 7th in the Atlantic. After finishing dead last the season before, the Sabres improved their record by 27 points. They will no doubt be looking to continue their upward climb and shift their rebuild into the next gear.

Cap Space: $21,871,309 (according to CapFriendly)

Key UFAs: G Chad Johnson and F Jimmy Vesey. After offseason acquisition Robin Lehner went down with an ankle injury in the Sabres’ opening game, Johnson stepped in and held down the fort admirably. He finished with a .920 SV% and a 2.36 GAA in 45 games. Given that Lehner is still an unproven commodity, the Sabres still need a capable backup in case things go sour. The Sabres have made big splashes in the past two off-seasons, so it is not be out of the question for the Sabres to go after a high-profile goalie and relegate Lehner to a backup role. That would leave Johnson as the odd man out, especially with young prospect Linus Ullmark waiting in the wings.

The Sabres traded for Jimmy Vesey’s negotiating rights on Monday June 20th, which we reported here. Vesey won the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s top hockey player, and was originally drafted by the Nashville Predators in 2012. Nashville traded the young prospect after they failed to sign him late in the season. Despite the trade however, Vesey’s camp maintains that he still plans to explore unrestricted free agency.

Other UFAs: F David Legwand, D Carlo Colaiacovo.

Key RFAs: F Marcus Foligno, F Zemgus Girgensons, and D Rasmus Ristolainen. Foligno is fresh off an ELC and looking for a reasonable raise as he enters his RFA years. The young forward finished last year with 10G and 23P in 75 games. Girgensons is also coming off an ELC and 7G and 18P in 71 games. While the Sabres would like to bring him back, the Latvian centerman is rumored to be considering signing in the KHL. Finally, Finnish defenseman Ristolainen finished fourth in team scoring with 9G and 41P in 82 games. He lead the team in playing time with over 25 minutes—three minutes more than any other player. Re-signing the former first-rounder is Buffalo’s main RFA priority.

Other RFAs: D Casey Nelson, D Jake McCabe, G Jason Kasdorf.

Sabres GM Talks Vesey, Draft

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Buffalo GM Tim Murray spoke to the media on Tuesday to talk about the upcoming draft and yesterday’s acquisition of Jimmy Vesey’s negotiating rights.  John Vogl of the Buffalo News has the highlights.

On Vesey, the Hobey Baker winner for the best college player last season:

“It’s a gamble,”   He can sign with somebody else August 15, but it was a third-round pick and we can debate the value of third-round picks. Between 30 percent and 10 percent of them play.

“He’s got top-six potential. He’s the type of player we’re looking for.”

Since the trade occurred, Vesey’s agent acknowledged that he still intends to test the free agent market in mid-August, according to WKBW’s Nick Filipowski.

On the 8th overall pick, Buffalo’s first selection in Friday’s NHL Entry Draft:

“If somebody offers us a top-end, young, left-shot” defenseman “and they demand our eighth overall pick and we feel it makes us better, we’ll do the trade.” 

Murray added that the team has a shortlist of three players at that selection should they hold onto the pick.  The team isn’t willing to move any of their top young players to move up in the draft, notes Mike Harrington, also of the Buffalo News.

Murray also noted that the team has been in talks with D Rasmus Ristolainen, D Jake McCabe, and F Zemgus Girgensons on new contracts.  The team has not yet started negotiations with F Marcus Foligno, reports Shawn Stepner of WKBW.

Buffalo Acquires Jimmy Vesey From Predators

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UPDATE 3:52 PM CST: Bob McKenzie throws a little water on the fire of Vesey signing, with a couple of quotes from Sabres GM Tim Murray: “Why not us? Why not give it a shot? We have a spot in our Top 6 for him. We had four 3rd-round picks.” and “If I could’ve traded (rental) Jamie McGinn for Vesey’s rights at deadline, I’d have done it. We’ll give it our best shot.”  While it still seems likely that Buffalo will sign him, perhaps it’s not quite as certain.

3:48 PM CST: In addition to being close with Eichel, Michael Russo of the Star Tribune adds that he’s been skating with him for a month already.

3:33 PM CST: According to Nashville Predators’ Twitter, the team has dealt the rights to NCAA winger Jimmy Vesey to Buffalo for a third round pick in this year’s draft.  Tom Gulitti of NHL.com adds that it is Minnesota’s pick that is being dealt, 76th overall.

After much speculation that the Harvard winger would wait until August 15th, when he would be come an unrestricted free agent it seems Buffalo is certain they can get him signed before then.  Vesey is close with Jack Eichel, the Sabres’ top pick from a year ago.

If the Sabres can get him signed, it’s a big addition to a club already brimming with young talent. Vesey 46 points this past year for Harvard, coming third in overall scoring in the ECAC. Now 23-years old, Vesey will be expected to step right into the Buffalo lineup and contribute.  His size and skill will lead him to a top-six role quickly in the NHL, though there may be some doubt in his ability to become an elite winger.

For the Predators, it’s a fairly decent return for a player who was clearly not going to sign with them. Vesey was determined to become a free agent in August, meaning that the Predators would have lost him for nothing. Instead, they replace the 66th overall pick they spent on him with a 76th a few years later. While obviously not as good as getting Vesey for themselves, they’ll take what they can get at this point.

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