In just over 24 hours, 2016 Hobey Baker Award winner Jimmy Vesey will be an unrestricted free agent and able to negotiate with teams other than the Buffalo Sabres, who acquired his rights from the Nashville Predators before the NHL Draft.
Reports over the last few weeks have indicated a number of preferred destinations for the Harvard Crimson winger, but similar to the Steven Stamkos situation earlier this summer, only Vesey himself knows where he will sign.
“At the end of the day, Jimmy is going to make his own decision. Obviously, I’ve thought about playing with him before.” Leafs 2014 draft choice Nolan Vesey said about his older brother last month. “I want what’s best for him (and) he’s gonna choose the right team that is the best fit for him. When August 15th comes around, (Jimmy) is going to make the best decision for himself"
Everyone has made predictions where this young forward will end up based on a wide variety of criteria (family preference, favorite team, etc), but if you narrow the choice down to the clubs that could legitimately give Vesey a chance to play as a top six forward, that might make the picture a bit clearer of which team he will choose.
Here are the list of potential destinations and the odds of them winning the Jimmy Vesey Sweepstakes:
Chicago – The Hawks are an alluring destination as a perennial Stanley Cup contender with a core group young enough to win more championships.
The concern for the Vesey camp is that Chicago GM Stan Bowman has displayed a willingness to move players such as Brandon Saad and Andrew Shaw when their contract comes up and Vesey will likely be looking for a significant pay increase next summer if he has a great rookie season.
Odds : 2-to-1
Toronto – The Leafs do not have to rely solely on the promise of playing under a head coach with a championship pedigree that Mike Babcock has as an enticement.
While Vesey’s father and brother being part of the Toronto organization is helpful, the club being in a rebuild mode and giving the big winger an opportunity in the top six and possibly being on a line with top pick Auston Matthews helps even more.
Odds : 2-to-1
Boston - The Bruins have long been a favorite to land the Boston area native, with it being his favorite team and the pull of family and friends, but the franchise has missed the playoffs two years in a row and the core group that won a Stanley Cup in 2011 is either gone or at the tail end of their prime.
Brad Marchand and Matt Beleskey are penciled in as Boston's top two left wingers, so it would be a tough task for Vesey to move into a prime scoring role as a rookie.
Odds : 3-to-1
New Jersey – The Devils can provide Vesey plenty of ice time and opportunity (playing as the #2 LW behind newly acquired Taylor Hall), but unless rookie Pavel Zacha turns into a star, New Jersey does not have a big playmaking center to be a set up man.
Odds : 4-to-1
NY Rangers - The Rangers are thought to have missed their championship window, but they still have Henrik Lundqvist.
Vesey is friends with Kevin Hayes(who went the UFA route coming out of college) and practices with the New York forward during the summer. With Rick Nash and Chris Kreider playing the same position, it is unlikely the Hobey Baker winner would play higher than the third line, but Nash may be an expansion draft/buyout casualty next summer.
Odds : 4-to-1
Buffalo - The Sabres have held Vesey’s rights for nearly two months and were unable to get the winger to agree to a contract, which makes it hard to imagine that he would wait to become a free agent and then sign with the club after
Buffalo has attractive pieces in place with center Jack Eichel, winger San Reinhart and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, so it is not impossible that he chooses to sign there, but they have to be considered a dark horse at best.
Odds : 10-to-1
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