On May 26, Jimmy Vesey will graduate from Harvard.
On August 15, Vesey will become a UFA.
What he does between now and then will go a long way to selecting the ideal NHL team for him to play for.
The Nashville Predators selected Vesey in the third-round in 2012, will become an unrestricted free agent. Vesey will turn 23 on the day he graduates from Harvard. Because he played all four seasons at Harvard he has earned the right to not report to the team that had drafted him. Vesey informed the Preds that he would not be reporting to Nashville to assist them in their quest for the 2016 Stanley Cup.
Vesey's path to the NHL has been slow and deliberate. Those are the terms and conditions that he dictated for himself. Vesey wanted to finish all four years of education at Harvard. He accomplished that goal.
It takes a special brand of confidence to say "Thanks, but no thanks" to a multi-million dollar NHL contract with the team that draft you.
Rather than rush into the NHL not completely prepared, Vesey is doing things his way.
Like friend and fellow New England neighbor Jack Eichel, Vesey opted to skip the 2016 IIHF World Championships being played in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia.
Vesey has a strategy that he will be following to guide him to his eventual NHL landing spot.
Like a financial planner or Wall Street investor, Vesey will be watching all markets very closely on a daily basis. He will work out with his trainer in Foxborough, Massachusetts. He and his agent will watch the Stanley Cup playoffs, monitor the NHL draft, and NHL unrestricted free agency this summer.
As a junior Vesey scored 32 goals and 26 assists, however, he lost the Hockey Baker Award to Jack Eichel. As a senior, Vesey won the Hobey Baker by potting 24 goals and chipping in 22 assists.
“You go to school for four years, and this is supposed to be the most fun time,… Vesey told the Boston Herald.
“You really start to bond with your classmates in going through Senior Week stuff with them. It’s why we worked hard in school the past four years — to be at graduation, walk, and receive a diploma. It’s definitely something I wanted to be a part of. I’m definitely glad that I’m going to be able to be there for graduation.…
By August 15, when Vesey will be free to negotiate with any NHL team, rosters for 2016-17 will be close to set. Most go-to free agents will have signed by then.Two franchises will build their teams with Vesey in mind: Toronto and Boston, the favorites to land the Charlestown native.
The Bruins would like a second- or third-line left wing to complement Brad Marchand and Matt Beleskey. The Maple Leafs, who employ Vesey’s father as a scout and drafted younger brother Nolan Vesey in the sixth round in 2014, are interested in every young player who can skate and shoot.
“Once we get closer to the date, we’ll definitely be looking at rosters, prospect pools, and talent,… Vesey said. “I’m definitely someone who would like to stay on top of that and have a good idea of what I want to do in August.…
It will take planning and forecasting for Vesey to determine his next move. The soon-to-be Harvard graduate has never minded doing his homework
Don't sleep on the Buffalo Sabres, either.
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Friends With Bennefits https://t.co/D7Zkas6iUO pic.twitter.com/7WkL25jUqI
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) May 15, 2016
The Dallas Stars failed to show up in their Game 7 alley fight with the St. Louis Blues. The Stars were ridden hard and put away wet. The season ended when Dallas goaltending was exposed for being the fraud that it is . The Stars currently have $10.4 million in salary cap space committed to Kari Lehtonen and Antii Niemi. Lehntonen has two years remaining at $5.9M AAV and Niemi has two seaosns remaining at $4.5M AAV.
Stars GM Jim Nill will no doubt be addressing his goaltending kerfuffle this summer. Nill is tasked with having to trade the contract of either Lehtonen or Niemi.
Nill will have to subtract one of his goalies and apply the salary cap savings to his captain Jamie Benn.
Benn, 26, has one season remaining in his current contract. He will a $5.25M cap hit next season. has no desire to explore his options.
Benn said Sunday that he is not interested in leaving Dallas. He wants to stay and finish what he and his teammates have started in Big D.
The Stars captain rightfully earned his 2016 Hart Trophy nomination. He was sensational in leading his team to Game 7 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Benn is due to become an unrestricted free agent in 2017, and is eligible to sign a contract extension as early as July 1. Benn wants his agent and Nill to negotiate a contract extension prior to the opening of training camp in September.
“Going into the last year of your contract, you don’t want it to be a distraction for your team,… Benn told the Dallas News.
“I’ll let (GM) Jim (Nill) and my agent try to figure that out.
“This is where I want to play, this is where I want to be. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.…
For his part, Nill plans to meet with Benn and his agent in the coming days.
Nill better be prepared to pay Benn a max contract to the tune of $8.5-$9 million per season for eight seasons.
“I’ve got to meet with Jamie over the next week or 10 days. Going to start discussing that and then I’ll get a hold of his people,… Nill said. “It’s something we’d like to start up, if it’s something we can get done in July, August.…
Benn has played all 508 games of his career in Dallas, winning the Art Ross Trophy with the club last season.
Benn scored 41 goals and chipped in 48 helpers. That's 99 points in 82 games this past season. Benn kicked up his offensive two notches when Tyler Seguins left the lineup with a nasty Achilles tendon injury.
In 13 playoff games, Benn scored 5 goals and added 10 assists.
Benn has scored 76 goals and has added 100 assists the past two seasons.
Benn is the best all around player in the NHL today because he hits, fights, creates, scores, defends all while leading by example his troops into battle.
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Having to get stretchered off the ice in the first period of Game 1 of the ECF was certainly not something that Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop was hoping for.
Bishop spoke with media Sunday.
Remarkably, he is not ruled out for Game 2.
Bishop suffered a brutal injury in Game 1.
I'm amazed that Bishop isn't more seriously injured after watching his fall.
#TBLightning Bishop: "Scary. I'm thinking my leg is broken. Mind starts spinning."
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) May 15, 2016
Bishop left Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins on a stretcher. The injury occurred at the 7:35 mark of the first period after the huge goalie crumpled awkwardly while trying to get back to his crease.
Bishop walking fine with no limp, no brace. Pretty crazy considering how bad it looked #TBLightning. "Felt like somebody slashed me"
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) May 15, 2016
Andrei Vasilevskiy relieved Bishop and made 25 saves in a 3-1 win. Vasilevskiy will start Game 2.
"I feel really bad saying all this, but everyone's indefinite until they're told they can play," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Saturday.
"Everything's been really good so far on Ben, much better news than the scene we saw what happened when he was carted off. As far as his playing status, I have no answer or no update for that yet."
Vasilevskiy played in 24 games for Tampa this season. He posted a 2.76 GAA and .910 save percentage.
Bishop is a Vezina Trophy nominee. He has a .939 save percentage in the playoffs and has been a Conn Smythe Trophy leader as Tampa's best player.
Jon Cooper said that Steven Stamkos is "still in a holding pattern". Stamkos skated in his regular tarp on Sunday. He too is still listed as "out indefinitely".
Anton Stralman is nearing his return to the lineup.
In fact, I think we will see Bishop and Stralman return sooner than Stamkos does.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins need a win to tie the Eastern Conference finals matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
Rookie Matt Murray will be given the crease by Mike Sullivan, who confirmed Murray will start. Marc-Andre Fleury rumors be damned. At least for the start of Game 2. If Murray gives up three goals on 6 shots, or something to that effect, I'm certain that Sullivan will go to "The Flower" as the stop gap guy out of the bullpen.
Murray allowed three goals in the Game 1 loss.
Murray obviously has earned the trust of Sullivan, who coached the 21 year old at AHL Wilkes Barre.
"He was a maturity level beyond his years and responds to adversity really well," Sullivan Sunday.
Now might be the ideal time for Sidney Crosby and Geno Malkin to bust their slumps. The Pens haven't lost consecutive contests since mid-January and will look to continue the streak in Game 2