The Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes are starting to or already have become a soap opera, given all the twists and turns. With just several days left until August 15, when others teams besides Buffalo, who own his rights, can "truly" negotiate with him, be prepared for more twists and turns. Follow the bouncing ball below.
Larry Brooks, in the NY Post on May 25, wrote the following with my blog portion below:
Expect the Rangers to be in big-time on pending free-agent winger Jimmy Vesey of Harvard, who will become available on Aug. 15 when the Predators lose the rights to the 66th overall selection of the 2012 entry draft.
Common wisdom has the North Redding, Mass., native signing with either the Maple Leafs (for whom his father works) or the hometown Bruins, but there is every reason to believe the Blueshirts will be serious players on this one.
As others have written, adding college undrafted free agents and those who don't sign with their team is a way NY has tried to make up for the lack of draft picks. They did so with Kevin Hayes and benefitted from the move in his rookie season; less so last year. Vesey is probably a top-25 prospect, who would bring good size and skill to the Rangers, like he would any team. a no-brainer to pursue this option, though I would put the likelihood of him signing with the team as somewhat remote.
Craig Custance, ESPN Insider - July 27, wrote:
Craig Custance says that the Rangers should be one of the teams in the running for Jimmy Vesey on August 15th and noted that his agent Peter Fish has a very strong relationship with Jeff Gorton.
Fish says that he knows Gorton very well and has a lot of respect for him and added that whenever he has a free agent at any level Jeff is one of "the first people that I call."
Fish also represented and remains close with Rangers director of player development Chris Drury.
Vesey is said to be very good friends with Kevin Hayes.
It's been reported that the Rangers plan to be all in for Vesey if/when he becomes a free agent on 8/15.
Other teams believed to be favorites for Vesey include the Sabres, Bruins, Maple Leafs and Blackhawks.
Factors such as "the fit," city, coaching staff and future of the team are all things that Vesey will consider while making his choice.
So far so good, right? Ah but that's about to change.
Full Tilt Rangers using some information below,
postulated that the Rangers likely were not a favorite to land Vesey. In fact, Chicago and Toronto were believed to be the prime landing spots for him. Chicago, as reported in The Atlantic
may have a slightly more difficult time due to their cap constraints and carry forward into next year if all the potential performance bonuses for Panarin, Vesey, Campbell, Kempny, Schmaltz and Hinostroza are met. That then would mean Toronto might be in the lead as....
Adrian Dater tweeted:
The Leafs Nation
augmented what Dater tweeted: "Perhaps Toronto's biggest selling point remains the family connection; his dad, Jim Vesey Sr, works for the team as a scout while his brother Nolan was drafted by the Leafs in 2014 and remains in the system."
So based on the above, Rangers out, Toronto in, Chicago on fringes, Buffalo out and Boston likely in. But not so fast.
Joe Haggerty of CNNSE
noted that while Boston, who was believed to be one of the favorites, may not be, the same can be said about Toronto. Haggerty added "Perhaps most surprising of all, though, is that the Bruins, Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs have fallen back in the Vesey pack. All three appeared to be frontrunners for most of the process, given their strong ties to last season’s Hobey Baker winner."
Haggerty noted that the favorites may be the Blackhawks, Devils and Rangers, all for a variety of reasons and factors. Chicago's name has been prominently mentioned previously while the Devils have also been rumored to be in the mix. The Rangers, depending who you believe, are either not one of the teams Vesey has interest in or one of the favorites.
In supporting his view on New York's candidacy, Haggerty wrote:
The Rangers have a couple of local guys on their roster -- Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes -- whom Vesey is familiar with, and there’s a good working relationship between Vesey’s agents and Rangers GM Jeff Gorton.
What do we really know? Not much. The truth is all, none or some of the above could be in or out. In addition one of them or another team may be in the driver's seat. It all depends on which source you trust or believe more. The truth is no one really knows. It's pure speculation until at least August 15, at which point, something should be known shortly thereafter.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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