Bruins On Jimmy Vesey's Short List
BOSTON (CBS) -- For Jimmy Vesey, and Boston Bruins fans, August 15 can't come soon enough.
That's when the 23-year-old North Reading native will become an unrestricted free agent, giving teams around the NHL a chance at signing the Harvard standout.
And Vesey's hometown B's are on the short list of teams he'll chat with when August 15 rolls around.
"I've said it all along that Boston is definitely on my list of teams that I'd like to talk to. It's a team that I've rooted for all my life, and it's a team that I watched win the Stanley Cup in 2011," Vesey told CSNNE's Joe Haggerty on Wednesday. "I'll definitely be meeting with Boston in August.
"I was a huge Joe Thornton fan growing up. He wore No. 19. I wear No. 19. He was my favorite player. I got to know Torey Krug a little bit through playing with him at the world championships last year. So it would be really cool to play with Torey and put on the Bruins jersey. It's the team that I've watched for my whole life," he added.
Vesey would slide right into a top six forward position on the Bruins, potentially replacing the production of departed winger Loui Eriksson. Haggerty believes that along with the Bruins, the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils make up his short list, with the Pittsburgh Penguins a dark horse team.
Vesey won the Hobey Baker Award in 2016, netting 24 goals for the Crimson as a senior. Drafted in the third round in 2012 by the Nashville Predators, he opted not to sign with the team last season. The Predators traded his rights to the Buffalo Sabres for a third round pick last month.
