Jimmy Vesey's agent has confirmed to me via email that he and his client will be meeting with the Buffalo Sabres today.
Last Friday, Vesey's agent said that his client is open to all possibilities. With that in mind, don't be surprised at all if Tim Murray gets Vesey to sign his entry level contract today. Murray has an excellent economy with words and emotion. Just ask Kyle Okposo who said Tuesday that after one phone conversation with Murray that he was convinced that Buffalo would be his best option to sign with as a free agent. $42 million later, Okposo said at his introductory presser that Buffalo "has the opportunity to raise banners".
Just sign the deal Jimmy. You'll be ecstatic when you see men, women and children rocking your #19 Blue & Gold sweater at Wegmans, in August.
Who knows. Maybe Jack Eichel will be attending the Vesey meeting today as well.
Why all the fuss about Vesey?
Check out this sick Eichel-Vesey snipe show from last night! The non verbal communication between Eichel (15) and 19 (Vesey) is uncanny. They know where one another is at on the ice at all times. Truly a dangerous duo. Very similar to Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin in terms of non verbal cues and awareness of one another on ice.
Thanks @PAltmeyer
Eichel first touch, sexy back hand sauce to Vesey's tape in slot. Head up. Quick catch, quick release.
Whammo! That, folks, is what hockey people call lethal chemistry. Jaw dropping like Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.
Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray isn't the only NHL boss who is interested in signing Harvard star Jimmy Vesey as a free agent. Murray has company from a list of NHL GMs.
Though the Sabres own exclusive negotiating rights for Vesey until August 15, Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman, son of Scotty, traveled to Foxboro, Mass. to scout Vesey on Wednesday night.
Senior VP/GM Stan Bowman of #Blackhawks was in Foxboro tonight watching Jimmy Vesey in the pro league.
Why isn't Tim Murray scouting Vesey live in person during his summer shunny sessions?
Murray doesn't have to.
Murray invested a third round draft choice and took possession of Vesey's exclusive negotiating rights.
Other NHL GMs and scouts can look at but can't talk to Vesey until August 15. Otherwise, tampering offenders will be slapped with a sizable fine by the NHL for contacting a free agent before he is available to the market. You'll recall that Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning was slammed with a $50,000 U.S. fine for merely mentioning the names of P.K. Subban and Steven Stamkos at his pre-NHL draft presser. Benning knows better than to mention the names of players who are currently under contract to other NHL clubs. If he didn't then he sure knows now.
Tim Murray said last Friday July 1 that he would be meeting face to face with Vesey and his agent this week to extol the many virtues of playing in Buffalo and living in hockey crazed Western New York.
The much anticipated Vesey-Sabres meeting has not occurred just yet. The likely reason the meeting hasn't happened yet is Monday's 4th of July holiday and Wednesday's opening of Buffalo Sabres prospects development camp at HARBORCenter on the waterfront.
Don't worry Sabres fans. Tim Murray hasn't taken his eagle eye off the big fish.
Murray and the Sabres will introduce new UFA signee and fellow big Fish Kyle Okposo at 10am.
He will then head to Boston to meet with Vesey and his agent later today.
Stan Bowman and all of the other suitors will have to stand outside Vesey's window, boom box on shoulder, and sing Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" from now until August 15.
Vesey plays in the Foxboro Sports Center summer league along with two dozen NHLers, AHLers, and high level NCAA players.
Buffalo are free to ink Vesey to a two year NHL entry level contract.
The zillion dollar question in Buffalo for the past week has been:
"WHEN will Vesey be signing with the Sabres?"
Vesey's agent has said that his client will decide his ultimate landing spot on August 15. However, on July 1 he said that Camp Vesey is open to all possibilities.
On July 1, I reached out to the agent for Vesey via email asking if the power winger would be signing with the Sabres on the first day of NHL unrestricted free agency and I was told "Not today".
Vesey told NHL.com he and his agent will be meeting with the Sabres on today in Boston.
This will be the first time Vesey and the Sabres are meeting in person since July 1.
My guess is that Tim Murray won't be selling gum drops and ju ju bees to Vesey in the meeting. Knowing Murray, he will have Vesey's NHL entry level contract in his binder. Murray is a closer and it would not surprise me in the least if and when he slides the contract and the Mont Blanc pen across the table at tells Vesey to sign on the dotted line. Right. Then and there.
Murray wants what Murray wants. He would not have invested a third round draft choice into Vesey if he thought he was a long shot to sign the 23 year old free agent.
Sabres budding superstar and 2015 Hobey Baker winner Jack Eichel is playing an integral rle in recruiting his close friend Vesey to Buffalo. The dynamic duo play on a line together for Team Keator in the Foxboro Pro League on Wednesday nights. The duo played together on a line in the same league last summer.
Eichel's sales pitch to Vesey:
"Samson Reinhart and I need a left winger and we want YOU to ride shotgun with us".
No pressure on Eichel, right?
The rabid fan base of millions of Sabers fans within a 100 mile radius of Buffalo is imploring Eichel to close Vesey. Sabres fans want to win a Stanley Cup next season and feel passionate about their chances of doing so with Eichel, Reinhart, Ryan O'Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Evander Kane, Zemgus Girgensons, Marcus Foligno Tyler Ennis, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jake McCabe, Zach Bogosian, Robin Lehner, and others in the staring lineup.
Vesey was drafted by the Nashville Predators at the 2012 NHL Draft. He was selected in the third round, however, he decided to skate away from Nashville after his senior season at Harvard. The Preds were holding a roster spot for Vesey to play in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs for them, however, in April he informed their GM David Poile that he had changed his mind and would be pursuing the free agent market this summer.
"I think we have a small number of teams that I think we'll really be focusing on," Vesey said. "So, August 15 we'll start talking to them and see what they say."
The Buffalo Sabres are in the pole position for Vesey. They have the exclusive ability to communicate with the player until August 15. There's the looming Jack Eichel factor. Also, Sabres GM Tim Murray drafted Vesey's friend Casey Fitzgerald out of Boston College at the NHL Draft in Buffalo. Vesey and Fitzgerald are close friends and both call North Reading, Mass. their hometown. Let's not overlook the Terry Pegula factor in recruiting Vesey either. The billionaire owner is a persuasive business man who has built his fortunes on simple family values and dogged determination.
Vesey's Buffalo Sabres two year entry level contract will be augmented by bonuses and incentives that could earn him an additional $2 million per season in compensation.
The Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs have also thrown their hats into the ring for Vesey.
Vesey is worth every bit of the hype. He is the 2016 Hobey Baker Memorial Award. He stands 6'3" and 210 pounds, plays a competitive/physical style and can finish from all areas on the ice. He possesses NHL speed and an NHL caliber shot. Vesey scored 24 goals and 22 assists in 2015-16 and compiled 80 goals and 64 assists for 144 points in 128 career games with Harvard.
With Steven Stamkos, Kyle Okposo and the A-List NHL UFAs signed, sealed and delivered to new NHL contracts, Vesey is the headliner for the next wave of NHL free agents.
"Free agency's done and I think most of the bigger names are off the board," Vesey told NHL.com.
"Now you've got to start sifting through teams and rosters and prospect pools and stuff like that. So I think I'm starting to get more and more excited as the days go on because I'm really looking forward to finding out where I'm going to be."
Join the Discussion:
»