Jimmy Vesey

Not all that long ago, it looked like Vesey might be on his way out of the NHL. He bucked that trend with 25 points, 98 hits, 123 shots on goal and a plus-13 rating while filling a versatile role with the Rangers in 2022-23, rejoining the team that gave him his first NHL action back in 2016-17. His four best seasons have come on Broadway, but he's still likely to be limited to a bottom-six role that's unlikely to yield much more than 30 points in 2023-24. The winger can be useful in small bursts, but with little power-play time and not enough hits to make a huge difference, he can likely be left on the board in drafts for standard fantasy formats this year.

Vesey, coming off a career-worst 20-point effort in 64 games for the Sabres last year, signed a one-year deal with the Maple Leafs in the offseason. The 27-year-old has yet to average 0.5 points per game in any of his four seasons, and a bottom-six role awaits him in Toronto. Even if his shooting percentage rebounds into the 12-percent range, the winger is unlikely to exceed 25 points in the 56-game, 2020-21 campaign, making him a risky option at best for fantasy managers. There's little reason to have interest in the Massachusetts native.

Vesey was shipped off to Buffalo in the offseason following three seasons on Broadway. The 26-year-old Harvard product scored 16, 17 and 17 goals in those three campaigns, and Vesey added 18 assists last season for a career-high 35 points. He'll likely take on a middle-six role for the Sabres similar to the one he played downstate, and there's little reason to expect significant deviation from the baseline Vesey has established for himself thus far unless he unexpectedly locks down a spot alongside Jack Eichel on the top line.

Vesey won the Hobey Baker award as the nation's best collegiate player at Harvard in 2016, but he's enjoyed moderate success at best at the NHL level. While he does have 33 goals through two seasons, he dished out just 11 assists in each campaign and has a minus-31 rating. At 25 years of age, the 6-foot-3 winger is also older than a significant chunk of New York's lineup despite his relative inexperience. Vesey could still make a leap with top-six minutes and power-play time up for grabs on Broadway, but he's been given such opportunities before without much to show for them.

One of the most hotly pursued college prospects in a long time, Vesey somewhat surprisingly signed with the Rangers last summer, but he proceeded to disappoint in his rookie campaign. Expected to step in as an instant top-six mainstay, he often struggled in all phases of the game, finishing with 16 goals, 11 assists and a minus-13 rating in 80 contests. That’s especially frustrating for fantasy owners after he collected nine points in the season’s first 10 games; the Harvard product’s game didn't look “wicked smaht” very often thereafter, and he often found himself banished as far as the fourth line (and the press box a couple times). Of course, we're talking about a 24-year-old who racked up 66 goals and 48 assists over 70 games over his final two collegiate seasons, so it’s much too soon to give up on him.Given his talent level, Vesey's likely to see a significant spike in production as an NHL sophomore.

For the last two years, Vesey has been perhaps the biggest art in college hockey, racking up 114 points in just 70 games while playing for Harvard. He's believed to be able to step into a top-six role right away, and every single team in the league can benefit from that kind of player. However, after he spurned the Preds (who drafted him in the third round in 2012), he had his rights traded to the Sabres, whom he promptly informed that he intends to enter free agency regardless. That leaves Vesey with a lot of intrigue, a lot of hype, and a lot of uncertainty. If the Sabres sign him, they could become a very potent offensive team with yet another shooter to deploy alongside Jack Eichel. Whether Vesey can live up to his billing remains to be seen, but given the attention he’s attracted, he should be one of the league’s top rookies no matter where he lands, with a 20-goal campaign not at all out of the question.