Boston Bruins: Jimmy Vesey Saga Turns Sordid

When Harvard senior forward Jimmy Vesey ended his collegiate career late last Friday night in Worcester, many fans in Nashville thought the Predators would get an instant jolt of offense to close out the regular season and springboard into the playoffs. What they received, though, was word from Vesey’s advisors that he would not sign, and test the free agent market. That was not a hit in Music City.

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What has ensued has been much conjecture and speculation on the airwaves throughout North America about the system that allowed Vesey to choose this route (and he is not the first and will not be the last to use it.) The first targets were the Toronto Maple Leafs, who hired Vesey’s father Jim as a scout in 2015. Many wondered if Lou Lamoriello had hired Vesey with the provision that he helps the Maple Leafs sign his son when he hits free agency.

There’s one underlying story with this, though, and that is that the Leafs already have drafted a Vesey. Jimmy’s younger brother Nolan was drafted in the 6^th round by the Leafs in the 2014 draft. He just completed his sophomore year at the University of Maine, where he followed up a solid rookie year with an average year.

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The next target has become the Boston Bruins. Vesey is a local product, out of North Reading, and he played his high school hockey at Belmont Hill. He followed that up with a year with the South Shore Kings of the East Coast Hockey League, where he averaged a goal a game. After that he went to Harvard, and that’s where more of this may be looked at with skeptical eyes.

Vesey played for Ted Donato, who also played for Harvard. Donato’s freshman year was the senior year of defenseman Don Sweeney, who is now the General Manager of the Bruins. Then, Donato and Sweeney were both teammates on the Bruins for several years in the 90s. There’s obviously a connection between Donato-Sweeney-Harvard-Bruins, and now Jimmy Vesey.

As referenced earlier, Vesey’s right to go to free agency comes via a clause in the collective bargaining agreement as it pertains to college hockey prospects. A team has four years to sign a prospect they drafted so long as the player remains a college student. In Vesey’s case, since he will graduate from Harvard, he has to wait until Aug. 15 before he can sign with teams others than the Predators.

This situation played out last year when Mike Reilly, a fourth-round draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2011, did not sign with the team before the June 15 deadline on which his draft rights had expired. The University of Minnesota defenseman then signed with the Minnesota Wild…where his father is a minority owner!

Dorchester’s Kevin Hayes did the same thing in 2014, passing on the Chicago Blackhawks, who had expended a first-round draft pick on him in 2010, and signing with the New York Rangers.

Some blame has to go towards Nashville. They certainly had time to sign him. They claim they told him he’d step in and be a top-six forward. They also claim Vesey’s advisors told them he would sign. Nobody will ever know what was said except for those who were there.

Next: A Crimson Path to Jimmy Vesey

For now, Vesey and his advisors are confident in their decision. Although he will have to wait another year to get closer to his next turn as a free agent, Camp Vesey feels the right decision has been made, and in the end Vesey will be the beneficiary. Whether or not the Bruins will reap the rewards of Vesey’s services will have to wait for the next four and a half months.