Former Rangers forward lands 2-year contract in Switzerland
Apparently unable to land a job in NHL free agency, former New York Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey signed a two-year contract with Geneve-Servette to play in Switzerland.
There were reports last week that Vesey was considering offers to play in Russia. If true, it could be that proposed deals fell through or never came to fruition. Or perhaps Vesey saw an easier path back to the NHL if his current contract is easier to move on from compared to one in the KHL.
Nonetheless, the 32-year-old is out of the NHL for the first time since signing with the Rangers as a college free agent in August 2016. Vesey has 194 points (101 goals, 93 assists) in 626 NHL games.
Vesey had six points (four goals, two assists) in 33 games with the Rangers last season before they traded him to the Colorado Avalanche along with defenseman Ryan Lindgren for forward Juuso Parssinen, defenseman Calvin de Haan and draft picks. He had two points (one goal, one assist) in 10 games with the Avalanche, but did not dress in the postseason when they lost in seven games to the Dallas Stars in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Vesey’s final goal with the Rangers was the 100th of his NHL career. It came on Feb. 23 in a 5-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins and was part of his only multi-point game (one goal, one assist) last season.
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Jimmy Vesey had his best NHL success playing for Rangers
Vesey played the majority of his NHL career with the Rangers, over two separate stints. He scored 17 goals twice and 16 once in his first three NHL seasons before the Rangers traded him to the Buffalo Sabres on July 1, 2019.
He bounced from the Sabres to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils before returning to the Rangers as a free agent prior to the 2022-23 season. The versatile forward played up and down the lineup and was a key penalty-killer during the next two seasons. But his role diminished greatly last season.
Vesey complained in January that “I’m kind of dying by being here.
“It seems that I’ve fallen out of favor and have just been cast aside over an extended period of time,” Vesey told Larry Brooks of the New York Post. “It feels like I have no role or purpose on this team.”
He was traded about five weeks later.
Vesey played 434 games with the Rangers and had 147 points (78 goals, 69 assists). Each of his five most productive NHL seasons came when he wore the Blueshirt.
