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New York Rangers: Reports of a Jimmy Vesey trade possibility

By Andrew Steele-Davis

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 03: Jimmy Vesey #26 of the New York Rangers skates against the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden on April 3, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 03: Jimmy Vesey #26 of the New York Rangers skates against the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden on April 3, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – JANUARY 31: Jimmy Vesey #26 of the New York Rangers skates in warm-ups prior to the game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on January 31, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. The Rangers defeated the Devils 4-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – JANUARY 31: Jimmy Vesey #26 of the New York Rangers skates in warm-ups prior to the game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on January 31, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. The Rangers defeated the Devils 4-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

New York Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey has come up in potential trade talks with the Buffalo Sabres, according to reports today.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet noted in his popular 31 Thoughts column today that discussions have taken place between the New York Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres about Vesey.

With the 2019 NHL Entry Draft taking place on Friday, teams across the league are starting to put their chips in the middle of the table and position themselves to improve their roster.

Buffalo appear to be one of those teams as they attempt to bounce back from a poor 2018-19 campaign, which started with so much promise but ultimately fizzled out at an alarming rate.

They have a new head coach behind the bench in Ralph Krueger while star forward Jeff Skinner was tied down to an eight-year, $72 million extension earlier this week. With studs like Jack Eichel and Rasmus Dahlin already in place, the Sabres have the pieces to at least challenge for a wild card berth in 2019-20.

So it should come as no surprise that Buffalo is looking to fatten up their roster with added quality, and it really shouldn’t shock anyone that they would be interested in trading for Vesey given that the franchise traded a third round pick to the Nashville Predators in 2016 in order to acquire the rights to the then Harvard University forward.

Ultimately, Vesey opted to hit free agency and then signed with the New York Rangers where he has shown flashes of the potential that made him such a sought after target by a number of NHL teams.

So, what next? There is nothing out there to indicate how these talks went and whether or not there could be a concrete trade offer on the table in the coming days.

Should a trade happen then it would likely take place before or during the First Round of the Draft on Friday given that there would almost certainly be draft picks involved in any potential deal.

Vesey enjoyed a career year for the Rangers in 2018-19 but, with a glut of wings on the roster and in the farm system, the 26-year-old could prove to be a valuable piece to move in order to add more assets or picks to the pile.

We’ve taken a look at the pros and cons involved for trading away Jimmy Vesey and given our thoughts on whether or not it would be a wise move for the New York Rangers…

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