The earliest we may see the smoke rise and a Pope named....no I mean the earliest we are to expect some resolution on the Jimmy Vesey situation should be today...He is still meeting with teams and how long the deliberation continues will be fascinating...
I have talked to few teams who have talked to him and I think we may be right back where we knew we would be..Boston, Toronto and Buffalo....maybe the Islanders as a legit dark horse...
But how good is Jimmy Vesey? Really.
Now I am the first to admit that rumors are my game...NOT Prospects. Instead of watching exciting hockey games played by the next great talents I am working the phones..So in evaluating Vesey I am left to listen to the sources I trust.
I CAN say that a handful of teams are indeed GAGA. One team source told me he projects as a 30 goal, 80 point NHLer...
Russ Cohen, who does the Hockey Prospects show (and of course Sportsology.com as well as co-hosting the HockeyBuzzcast) is convinced.
When I asked Russ today to give his thoughts he replied, "I've had the pleasure of watching Jimmy Vesey for the last four years playing for Harvard University. The progression he's made the past two seasons has been fun to watch. He's a complete player. He's a fabulous checker and wreaks havoc down low with a pro wrist shot. He creates space for his line mates. He's scored some clutch goals and is a leader on the ice."
And then...there are the others opinions...
Another source who has extensive experience with prospects and Jimmy Vesey personally isn't buying the hype at all.
"He wouldn't get 20 goals in the AHL...he was an older guy playing in the one of the weaker college leagues...," the source continued, "There are many better and younger players out there already. Look at Winnipeg and Chicago alone...On Winnipeg you have: Roslovic, Connor, Lemieux DeLeo and Petan....And that's not including Ehlers, Laine and Dano...All better than Vesey That's 8 forwards, all younger and better...All of those guys could get 53 points or more as 22-23 yr old in the ECAC. And Joel Armia is the same age....and on Chicago...there are Hinostroza, Schmaltz, Motte and Hartman. All better with none of the hype."
So there's that.
Again I don't personally know except to say the hype is definitely out there. Teams have been wrong before. This is why NHL GMs are losing their hair I suppose.
What do you think?
We will discuss all this and more on today's Buzzcast Live at 1pm ET.
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