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The Boston Bruins added to their already deep prospect pool with the signings of NCAA standouts in forward Sean Kuraly and defenseman Rob O’Gara to entry-level contracts. Kuraly, obtained in the Martin Jones to San Jose trade last summer, comes to the pro ranks after a four-year career at Miami (Ohio) with 43 goals and 93 points in 154 games. And O’Gara, drafted by the Bruins with the 151st overall pick in 2011, comes after a four-year stint as one of Yale’s best.
But are the Bruins set to add yet another NCAA standout? Or should I say, the NCAA standout?
While the hockey world has been buzzing about the ethics behind Jimmy Vesey’s decision not to sign with the Nashville Predators (the team that drafted him in the third round back in 2012), and instead become an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 15, the Boston Herald has reported that it’s the Black and Gold that appear to be the favorite landing spot for the North Reading, Mass. native.
From the Herald’s Bruins Notebook:
According to an extremely well-placed source within the Boston-area college hockey community, the forward will opt for free agency and sign with the B’s.
There’s no shortage of connections between Vesey and the Bruins, either. In addition to being a native of Massachusetts, Vesey played his college hockey in nearby Cambridge, Mass. with the Harvard Crimson, and put together a fantastic college career, with 80 goals and 144 points in 128 games. And Vesey’s father, Jim Vesey Sr., skated with the Bruins for four of his 15 NHL contests, back in ‘91.
But for all the connections to Boston, there’s even more connections that link Vesey Jr. to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who many of us, myself included, pitted as the early favorite come Aug. 15. Vesey Sr. currently serves as a scout for the Leafs, and Jimmy’s brother, Nolan Vesey, was a sixth-round draft choice of the Maple Leafs back in 2014. This is similar to the Mike Reilly situation in Minnesota where Reilly’s father, also named Mike, was a minority investor in the Wild franchise and served as the easy lure for Reilly to sign with the Wild over the team that drafted him, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Bruins may have an additional ace in the hole when it comes to piquing Vesey’s interest, though, and that’s fellow Massachusetts native and good friend, Bruins draft pick Matt Grzelcyk.
From Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman:
Boston’s biggest draw in the hunt for Vesey may be his friendship with draftee Matt Grzelcyk. A defenceman and captain at Boston University, Grzelcyk was taken 85th overall in 2012, almost 100 spots higher than his Central Scouting ranking. It’s believed he is loyal to the Bruins for taking that leap, but, like Vesey, he can also be a free agent Aug. 15. If they want to do it, there is a clear road to playing together — at home.
Local ties don’t always make a signing automatic, evident by ex-Blackhawks first-rounder Kevin Hayes’ decision to sign with the New York Rangers over the Bruins (though the Bruins’ cap situation was anything but pretty at the time). But the Bruins have had luck with these kinds of situations in the past, as the B’s signed the first big fish draftee malcontent, Blake Wheeler, when Wheeler opted not to sign with the Coyotes and instead pick his own destination in 2008.
But with a decision still at least four months away, the Bruins will have to wait and see, with Vesey.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.