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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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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 09: Jimmy Vesey #26 of the New York Rangers looks on during the national anthem prior to the game against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 09: Jimmy Vesey #26 of the New York Rangers looks on during the national anthem prior to the game against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Pros to trading away Jimmy Vesey

First and foremost, and as already mentioned, the Rangers have a plethora of wings on their major league roster and in the farm system.

It looks likely another will be added to that list on Friday when the Blueshirts are expected to take Finnish sensation Kaapo Kakko with the No.2 overall pick.

Kakko proved in emphatic fashion throughout the recent IIHF World Championships that he’s built to make an immediate impact in the NHL and there would likely be no easing in period for the elite phenom.

So, as a result, that would be one less roster spot for the franchise’s many assortments of wings and trading away Vesey for picks or prospects would help to eradicate some of that extra baggage in the wings department.

Chris Kreider, Pavel Buchnevich, Vladislav Namestnikov, Brendan Lemieux, Jesper Fast, Filip Chytil, Vitali Kravtsov and, potentially, Kaapo Kakko will all be vying and jostling for roster spots on the wing next year.

That is a lot of bodies and the likes of Lemieux and Chytil proved in 2018-19 that they are deserving of added responsibility and more ice time, meaning that Vesey would likely suffer a dip in his minutes.

Vesey had a career high in minutes (16:03) of total average ice time this year and he won’t want that to drop, plus he’s too good a player to be logging fourth-line minutes.

Another positive to shedding Vesey off the roster would be the fact that the left-shot is currently carrying a cap hit of $2,275,000 and is about to enter the final year of his current contract with the Rangers, meaning that not only would the Blueshirts have some added cap space to go towards luring a big ticket free agent to The Big Apple, they would also avoid having to shell out for an extension down the line.

It also depends on what the Rangers would get back, of course, and that in itself is an interesting discussion point.

The Sabres have a wealth of defensemen on their roster so could the Rangers ask for someone of the ilk of Jake McCabe or Marco Scandella in any potential trade along with a pick or two in this year’s draft?

That will all come out in the wash should these reports come to fruition, but the Rangers could certainly position themselves to come out of this with a good haul.

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