One can only imagine that Nashville general manager David Poiles heart skipped a beat this past summer when the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Jim Vesey Sr. as an amateur scout in the New England region.
Thats because Harvard Crimson senior winger Jimmy Vesey currently regarded as the best player in U.S. college hockey - is a Nashville Predator prospect who, if he so chooses, can become an unrestricted free agent on August 15, 2016, by simply not signing with the Preds before then.
The Leafs hiring the father of a top prospect, who could opt for free agency over the Predators, was widely viewed in the NHL community as an all-too-obvious inducement to perhaps skew the players decision-making process in Torontos favour.
Alls fair in love and war and recruiting of NHL-ready goal-scoring wingers?
Perhaps.
The Leafs, however, maintain it was the elder Vesey who reached out to Toronto about a scouting job. Also worth noting is that Toronto drafted Nolan Vesey, Jimmys younger brother, in the sixth round (158th overall) of the 2014 draft. Nolan is currently a sophomore at the University of Maine.
There is also a third-party connection between Maple Leaf president Brendan Shanahan and Vesey Sr. that actually led to the hiring. They have a good mutual friend in former St. Louis Blue Kelly Chase. Vesey Sr. and Chase were teammates in the Blues organization for the better part of three seasons and remain good friends today. Chase and Shanahan were also NHL teammates and remain good friends.
While Shanahan and Vesey Sr. didnt cross paths in their respective times in St. Louis, it was Chase who reached out to Shanahan last summer to inquire about Vesey being considered for a Leaf scouting job. Vesey Sr. spends most of his time in college rinks anyway, watching his two boys play; he figured why not see if he could turn it into a paying gig and asked Chase to keep his ears open if someone was looking for a college scout in the Boston area. Chase called Shanahan to make the Leaf boss aware of Vesey Sr.s interest in a scouting job.
For years, Shanahan has been unwittingly imitating Vesey Sr.s thick Charlestown accent by always greeting Chase with an emphatic Chase-ah (Chaser), which is how Vesey Sr., of course, always addressed Chase. Shanahan referred the request from Chase to Torontos director of scouting Mark Hunter, who subsequently made the hire.
Now all eyes will be on Jimmy at Harvard this season. He scored 32 goals in 37 games last season; he has five in the first six games this season. Nashville has tried in each of the last two seasons to get Jimmy to turn pro, but the family has been adamant about him graduating from Harvard. So the Preds will wait it out this season with their fingers and toes crossed.
Poile has said on countless occasions theres an NHL spot awaiting Jimmy for whenever he decides to turn pro, that they tremendously value the 6-foot-1, 195-pound winger, but is also well aware of the risks involved because of the CBA rule that allows him to go to free agency this summer.
The Predators are hoping Jimmys loyalty to the franchise that drafted him 66th overall in 2012, and the opportunity to play this season in the NHL regular season and/or playoffs as soon as Harvards year is over, are the factors that will weigh most heavily in his decision.
Well see.
