On Jimmy Vesey, the Buffalo Sabres and the Nashville Predators …
John Vogl of the Buffalo Sabres: The Sabres will make a pitch to Jimmy Vesey this week. The Sabres do have a shot a signing Vesey despite his desire to test the open market. Vesey’s agent told the Buffalo News last week that they are “open to anything.”
His entry level deal would be for two years, with a $925,000 base salary and up to $2.85 million in bonuses depending on the structure of it.
Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com: Vesey told NHL.com that he will be meeting with the Sabres today to hear what they have to say.
This will be their first in person meeting.
Vesey played with Jack Eichel in the Foxboro Pro League.
“I think we have a small number of teams that I think we’ll really be focusing on,” Vesey said. “So, Aug. 15 we’ll start talking to them and see what they say.”
The Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs are also strong candidates to land Vesey.
The Providence Journal reported that Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman was at the Foxboro Sports Center yesterday where Vesey was playing a summer league game.
“Free agency’s done and I think most of the bigger names are off the board,” Vesey said. “Now you’ve got to start sifting through teams and rosters and prospect pools and stuff like that. So I think I’m starting to get more and more excited as the days go on because I’m really looking forward to finding out where I’m going to be.”
Adam Vingan of the Tennessean: The Predators have let their college draft picks decide when they want to turn pro, but after the Jimmy Vesey situation, you have to wonder if they will change their stance on that.
“It’s not a perfect situation,” Predators general manager David Poile said recently. “I guess if you’re on our side, that’s a loophole that the college players can run the gamut on four years and then be a free agent like Jimmy Vesey. I think it’s a bad rule.
“I hope we can change it because now you see a lot of teams, because of the Vesey thing and a couple of other players, you see teams taking their players out of college maybe a year early to try to entice them with a contract, and so they don’t have to face that situation.”
It didn’t stop the Predators from drafting Dante Fabbro in the first round. Fabbro will be going to Boston University this year.
“If Dante is a good player after a couple of years, we’ll certainly approach him,” Poile said. “If he needs four years, then we’ll wait. It’s all about relationships. We thought we had the right relationship with the Veseys, and apparently we didn’t. We certainly will try to do all the right things with the Fabbros.”