Inferno
Registered User
Vesey was a disaster for most of this season..however I felt like in the playoffs he was consistently one of our better forwards, particularly when dragging around the corpse of Derek Stepan who was just.....awful.
Vesey was a disaster for most of this season..however I felt like in the playoffs he was consistently one of our better forwards, particularly when dragging around the corpse of Derek Stepan who was just.....awful.
Vesey was a disaster for most of this season..however I felt like in the playoffs he was consistently one of our better forwards, particularly when dragging around the corpse of Derek Stepan who was just.....awful.
Yeah. This take. How Vesey was good and was "dragging around the corpse of Derek Stepan who was just....awful".
I don't get this take at all. But that's me.
Damn, I was saying these things earlier in the season, but nah, I was apparently just a hater.
But I definitely do agree that this is a make or break season for Vesey. I was saying this last season. He wasn't good last season, especially for what expectations were. Maybe if he was like an undrafted CHL'er who worked his way up the ranks, it was a fine season, but not for a guy who had a sweepstakes, won the Hobey Baker, went straight from the NCAA's to the NHL.
Last season, Vesey was between a 3rd and 4th liner offensively, and he struggled defensively. I think he could be a solid defensive player, but he wasn't last season. He tried really hard, so AV liked his defensive play. He was probably more of a tweener between not being good enough offensively last season for the 3rd line and not good enough defensively for the 4th line. Thats what I'd call a 13F, so I think Vesey was a 13F last season, despite AV using him differently. I think he very well could settle in as a 9th or 8th forward, which wouldn't be bad. We could use a player of that caliber, but another season like this one, and I don't know what his value is. He's also pretty old for a guy who just finished up his rookie season, not some 19 year old kid who struggled playing against much older players.
The 'sweepstakes' shouldn't cloud your judgment on him. That's not Vesey's fault, it's the media. Expectations should've never been higher than JV being a middle-6 player in the NHL. Media blew it out of proportion. Not his fault.
Judge the game, not the circus.
I just didn't see enough glimpses of being intelligent or creative with the puck last year to have much faith. So reminiscent of a poor man's Parise. Worse skills, less effective motor. But I've been wrong plenty of times.
Take a look back at the thread for rookie expectations last season. I don't think anyone predicted Vesey to have as low of a point total as he had. And the team gets their share of blame because AV would not scratch a player who was pretty unproductive, which was a hard task in our forward group last season.
I really don't blame him for the media circus, but at the same time, I think we gotta separate all that from what he was last season. Why should I expect a 2nd liner out of a guy who put up 27 points in 81 games? Take away his name, why are we are sure he's better than Jensen or even Puempel? I'm not penciling this guy in for anything long term with this team. I think he's a maybe. He needs to prove he's a regular NHL'er, I don't think he's done that yet.
Very cool.
Everybody relax with your expectations please![]()
I'll eat my crow at the end of the season. He's not going to score on 1/3 of his shots forever.
You said he belongs in the AHL prior to the season starting, so your crow's already in your stomach.
First 20 games- He played with consistent effort. Took the next 60 off. Showed up for the playoffs.
It's an indictment on the poor leadership inside that locker room.
It's not like the Torts days where they had an emotional leader in the room.
Or during the Richie/MSL era where that was there inside the locker room with AV.
Last year... the highest paid guys gave the least every night. Coaching staff didn't hold them accountable.
Kids developed bad habits.
Goalie bailed them out.
Vesey had a up and down season for sure but 16 goals and 27 points as a rookie who never played a single game in the AHL? That is not horrible. Remember how many adjustments it took guys like Kreider and JT before breaking through. The kid has some real skills but mentally the game was going too fast for him last season. In the playoffs he showed some good skating. He already is a good shooter from the dots on down. Needs to work on controlling the puck on his stick more, improve his passing/anticipation and slowing the game down in his head. I felt he should be sent up to the press box to get a different view of the game for a week or so.
He was also a 23 year old rookie, not exactly young. Is he a finished product, I hope not, but chances are he is pretty close. Bigger issue was without Nash or Step he was absolutely craptastic
Imagine actually believing that Jimmy Vesey had a bad second half of the year because the Rangers locker room lacked leadership.
Wow.
Like some others out there my expectations for Vesey were probably too high and can't help but feel somewhat disappointed. Part of it I think is that it's hard for me to point to a part of Vesey's game and say "at least he's got that going for him", like when Kreider struggled early on you could still be encouraged by his speed and ability to physically dominate. It's not clear to me what Vesey's strengths are.
For those who have a better read on his skill set, what do you see as Vesey's strengths? Better still, what player would Vesey compare to if he reaches his potential?