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New York Rangers: Is Jimmy Vesey getting a bum rap?

By Steve Paulus

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Jimmy Vesey #26 of the New York Rangers skates against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden on February 8, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 08: Jimmy Vesey #26 of the New York Rangers skates against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden on February 8, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 12: Jimmy Vesey #26 of the New York Rangers skates toward the puck during the third period of the game against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on January 12, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 12: Jimmy Vesey #26 of the New York Rangers skates toward the puck during the third period of the game against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on January 12, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

Free agent frenzy

For Vesey, the summer of 2016 was a circus.  He narrowed his choices to seven teams and heard pitches from all of them.  The Islanders sent John Tavares to make their argument and the Blackhawks did the same with Patrick Kane.

As for the Rangers, they put on a full court press including tweets from athletes like Noah Syndergaard and celebrities like Susan Sarandon.


The entire hockey world was on pins and needles, waiting for him to make his decision.  On August 19 he made his decision, selecting the New York Rangers.  That’s when the trouble started.

Expectations

Whenever a player comes to a team with the hype surrounding Jimmy Vesey, the expectations are inevitably going to exceed the results.  Many were comparing Vesey to other successful college players like Johnny Gaudreau and Jack Eichel.  Gaudreau had 24 goals and 64 points in his rookie season in 2014-15.   The next year, Eichel had 24 goals and 56 points.

With Vesey set to debut in 2016-17, he was going to be the next in line.  However, there was a big difference.  Age.   Vesey was 23 when he finished his four years at Harvard.  His best years were his last two, when he was over 21 years old.

Jack Eichel was 19 when he made his debut with the Buffalo Sabres.  As an 18-year old, in his only year at Boston University, he had 26 goals and 45 assists for 71 points.

Johnny Gaudreau was 21 years old in his rookie season in Calgary.   He played three full season at Boston College and scored 21 goals in his two years as a teenager.  When he turned 20 in his last season at BC he had 36 goals and 80 points.

How does Vesey compare?   Here are the numbers for the three in their first year of college hockey:
                                     GP      G      A        Pts
Jimmy Vesey             27     11       7       18
Jack Eichel                  40     26     45      71
Johnny Gaudreau     44      21     23     44

Clearly, Jimmy Vesey benefited by playing as an “over age” player in college and at a similar point in his career, he was nowhere near the quality of his successful peers.

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