He’s all the rage in the NHL world right now. The 23-year-old reigning Hobey Baker winner Jimmy Vesey is on the open market, and he’s got a hold of NHL front offices everywhere by the balls. Since he’s yet to officially begin his NHL career, there’s a cap on the contract size Vesey can sign, so instead of money, the Vesey sweepstakes is about location, opportunity, and potential.
Here in Vegas, we believe we’ve got all three of those aspects on lockdown. There’s no better place in the world than Las Vegas, the team doesn’t even have a player yet so opportunity is there for everyone, and the rules of the Expansion Draft have many believing Las Vegas has the potential to be a playoff contender quickly. So why no choose Las Vegas, young Mr. Vesey?
Oh that’s right… cause Vegas can’t sign a player until next year. Damn! I hate calendars!
Ok, fine, so let’s move on to the impact Vesey may have on Vegas with whatever team he decides to choose. We’ve been preaching since the moment Las Vegas expansion became a reality that every move in the league will have at least some impact on the Expansion Draft. And they all will, except for this one.
Vesey will be exempt from selection by Las Vegas in the Expansion Draft because he has yet to play a season in the NHL. He’s probably going to go somewhere that gives him an opportunity to play at the NHL level this year, but even if he logs 82 games, he still won’t have to be protected from the Expansion Draft. The best we can hope for is that he pushes a guy off the top two forward lines of a good team and that player becomes expendable, and even that’s a reach.
