What Should The Rangers Do With Jimmy Vesey?
The once highly-touted Harvard prospect has seen his struggles since signing with the Rangers. The 25-year-old has seen himself given a shot in the top-six, but has now seen himself buried on the third or fourth line nightly, along with being a healthy scratch just a few nights ago. Vesey has 20 points on the year, split evenly between goals and assists. But his play goes deeper than just points on the board. Vesey seems to be invisible on the ice some nights, and when he’s not invisible, he’s having trouble finishing his scoring chances. So where does the team stand with Vesey going forward?
Vesey, who is signed through next season at a reasonable $2.275 million AAV, is bound to keep having opportunities to shine as a member of the Rangers. Although being a healthy scratch and having his minutes cut when he does play does stink, at the end of the day, the Rangers are in a rebuild. Even though head coach David Quinn seems to have a no-tolerance policy when it comes to sending players to the “Quinn Bin”, Vesey isn’t going to be forgotten about, specially since is he signed at a low number through next year. As far as trading Vesey, there isn’t much out there for him, as taking a risk on holding onto him seems to be the best move.
Even though Jimmy Vesey is on track to have his best season in the NHL, it seems as if some of the younger, surrounding cast might give the Rangers a better chance to win each night. I don’t expect Vesey to be removed from the Rangers’ plans going forward, as he still can put points on the board, as he’s fourth on the Rangers this season with 20 points. In Vesey’s first two full seasons as a Ranger, he skated in 159 games while tallying only 55 points. One reason behind the lack of production could be playing under Alain Vigneault, who had been known to cut minutes from young guys. Now, under David Quinn, the wish is to have Vesey connect with the young coach and thrive with younger players.
As of now, Vesey is still apart of the plan for the Blueshirts, but I put him under the category of a question. His production this year is better than ever, but he still finds himself in the bottom six and being scratched. Hopefully, Vesey can produce like he is supposed too and he’ll find himself fully involved in this Rangers team going forward.
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