It’s the middle of August and Jimmy Vesey has been stealing the headlines since the crazy day that Subban and Weber were traded and Stamkos decided to stay in Tampa Bay playing for the Lightning.

Personally, I think Stamkos is going to regret his decision, but that’s a topic I’m looking forward to discussing when the Leafs start to flourish and Steven is still playing secondary minutes compared to what a player of his caliber should be playing. I’m by no means bitter, it is what it is at this point, but I do feel he blew his opportunity to come home and play under Mike Babcock while the Leafs begin their upward surge. He could have been a legend, now he’s just another superstar who could have, should have, would have but....didn’t.

Forget Stamkos, he’s old news.

Jimmy Vesey is who’s on the Leafs radar now and with the optics of his brother being part of the Leafs prospect pool and his old man being a Scout for the big club, Toronto has a legit chance at picking up the Harvard graduate.

What are the odds?

One thing is for sure, the Leafs are right in the middle of the Vesey Sweepstakes and there is a good chance they improve their ever growing forward prospect pool. The Maple Leafs are already overflowing when it comes to talent that is ready to burst in the NHL, so adding in Vesey will really thicken the plot as training camp approaches.

As we all know the Leafs came dead last in 2015/16 and will certainly improve with the additions over the summer and the lottery win of Matthews. There have been quality additions in every facet of the game for the Leafs roster this year, from goaltending, to centers, wingers, defensemen. You name it, the Leafs improved, other than coaching of course; you can’t get better than the best.

Now if I’m Jimmy Vesey, I’ve already stressed myself out over the summer months waiting in anticipation of where to sign my contract with. Obviously there are going to be some sour faces wherever Vesey decides to sign.

Buffalo who decided to take a stab at Vesey, traded Nashville a third round pick just to get the rights to talk to Vesey before any other teams could. Seems like a brilliant idea if you ask me, but certainly the timing was the exact opposite. From what all reports showed, Vesey had absolutely zero intentions of signing anywhere until August 15th (midnight) or later.

Well, today is August 15th and Vesey could be inked to an NHL team as early as tomorrow.

I’d say Buffalo did a good job trying to rig the deck to secure Vesey to their marvelous city, but the cards just were not in the right order as I’d be absolutely shocked to see him sign there after having all of this time to do so ahead of the August 15th date that was set.

Nice try Sabres, no soup for you (not yet anyhow!).

Now I’m not saying Jimmy will be signing in Toronto for sure, but you better bet your bottom dollar that the Leafs staff will be doing what they can to persuade the youngster to join his brother and his father in Toronto. Home of the Leafs, Blue Jays, Raptors, Argo’s and Toronto FC; did I mention we hosted a few Bills games here and there?

We don’t want to sell ourselves short here in Toronto. Put it all on the table, show Jimmy the ways of the new management in T.O. and see what he’s got come training camp. Some fans are not exactly thrilled about Vesey because most former Hobey Baker award winners amounted to nothing, and others are not excited about a kid who ditched his draft team (Nashville) without playing one regular season game for them.

Now, that comment about the Hobey Baker winners from the past amounting to nothing. That’s a bit harsh up until two years ago (2014) Johnny Gaudreau won the award. Last year it was Jack Eichel, and Vesey was a nominee. Seems to me, there has been a run off some success as of late with the award winners. Gaudreau is an absolute stud, likely the best forward on Calgary, and same goes for Eichel being the best player on Buffalo.

At the end of the day, if Toronto ends up scooping up Vesey and he continues the trend of quality Hobey Baker award winners, it will be great success for the Leafs and their fans and yet another step in the right direction in the Shanahan Era.

It just may even bring the Leafs up to the next level of the Shanaplan while dulling the blade of the mighty sabre.

Thanks for reading.

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