Boston Bruins Still In Running For Jimmy Vesey

The Boston Bruins could still find themselves with Jimmy Vesey at the start of the 2016-17 season.

It’s certainly been an interesting free agency period for the Boston Bruins. While they still haven’t been able to lock down a top-four defenseman, they have found solid forwards and goaltenders to help fill out their roster. The biggest acquisition so far was former St. Louis captain David Backes, but Jimmy Vesey is still a possibility for the Black and Gold.

Vesey has spent the last four years playing for Harvard University. The 23-year old forward put in over a point a game for the Crimson (144 points (80 goals) in 128 games) in his career. The Harvard captain was a finalist for the Hobey Baker for the last two years, and he won the award for being the NCAA’s best hockey player in April.

It’s been a fast-paced and interesting offseason for Vesey. In June, the Nashville Predators traded away their negotiation rights to him to the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres ended up giving Nashville a third-round pick for him. (Kudos to Nashville for getting something for nothing here.) All through the month of July, the Sabres organization have been wooing the forward, but it looks as if it he’s still looking to sign somewhere else.

As of now, it still looks good for the Boston Bruins. Vesey has the hometown connections. He knows the city. It also certainly helps the B’s that Vesey is a serious fan of the Black and Gold.

“I’ve said it all along that Boston is definitely on my list of teams that I’d like to talk to”, said Vesey to Comcast’s Joe Haggerty last month. “It’s a team that I’ve rooted for all my life, and it’s a team that I watched win the Stanley Cup in 2011. I’ll definitely be meeting with Boston in August.

“I was a huge Joe Thornton fan growing up. He wore No. 19. I wear No. 19. He was my favorite player. I got to know Torey Krug a little bit through playing with him at the world championships last year. So it would be really cool to play with Torey and put on the Bruins jersey. It’s the team that I’ve watched for my whole life.”