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David Poile says Jimmy Vesey can jump right to NHL if he signs
Nashville Predators GM David Poile is really going all-in on trying to convince Harvard senior winger Jimmy Vesey to sign with the team and avoid becoming an unrestricted free agent in August.
Poile drafted Vesey in the third round in 2012 and has watched his offensive output grow in four years with the Crimson. Last season, Vesey was a Hobey Baker Award finalist after scoring 32 goals and recording 58 points in 37 games. When the Predators tried to sign him last spring, the forward said getting his degree was an important factor in his decision to stay.
With Harvard’s regular season ending later this month and the NCAA tournament beginning soon after, there is a chance if Vesey signs he could get in the Predators’ lineup right away. And appearing on 102.5 The Game in Nashvllle on Tuesday, Poile dangled an interesting carrot out there to try and sway the 22-year old’s mind.
“We have no idea how long his season is going to go exactly and we have to sign him,” Poile said, “but we’ve told him all along and as recently as last week that we have a spot for him.
“As we’ve told him all along, including as recently as probably this past week, is that we’ve got a spot for him. I can see him starting right out either on [Ryan] Johansen’s line or probably Mike Fisher’s line. I can say that because [Mike] Ribeiro and [Filip] Forsberg have been playing pretty good together for the last year, year and a half. But we would really like to give him a try.”
(There is the interesting factor that the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Vesey’s brother, Nolan, in 2014, and hired their father, Jim, as an amateur scout earlier this season.)
Vesey currently leads the Crimson in goals (16) and points (32) and nearly four years after being drafted by the Predators, the organization feels strongly that he’s ready to jump right into the NHL and make a difference.
“We really believe he is physically, he’s a man, he’s big, he’s strong,” Poile said. “We’ve had him here for our development camps each of the last two or three summers and he’s grown so much as a player and a person. Physically, he’s ready to play. As far as a college hockey player, he’s dominant in a lot of areas; one of them is his skating. Obviously, offensively he’s put up a lot of good numbers, so we truly believe that he can come in and play right away.”
Poile did add that had they signed Vesey last spring, there may have been the need for him to go down to Milwaukee of the AHL for a bit of seasoning, but not now.
“All I can tell you is we are very hopeful to sign him and I tell you firmly that he’s not going to be going to Milwaukee, he’ll be coming here,” said Poile.
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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