Jimmy Vesey appears destined to become a free agent on Aug. 15, but that doesn't mean he's ruled out the team that currently holds his negotiating rights.
Vesey's agent Peter Fish told Josh Cooper of Puck Daddy that the Buffalo Sabres are still in the mix to sign the 2016 Hobey Baker Award winner.
"I think there’s a lot of things out there that either aren’t true or people are just searching to say things," Fish said. "We’re still talking with Buffalo, who will be part of this process once free agency happens, if it happens, which I assume is going to happen. Jimmy wanted to go to free agency all along. He wanted to see it through and, so Buffalo has always been a team that has interested him, but he wants to compare with a few other teams once it happens on the 15th."
Fish also said Vesey hasn't talked too much about where he wants to go and instead is going to wait to hear all his options.
"Jimmy’s, he really is an interesting kid. He has been very quiet about it. He hasn’t talked much about it," Fish said. "He and I and my other colleague Pete Donatelli, we talk to him maybe every week or so and kind of bounce things off. We’ve had some good discussions with the Sabres, but it’s not something that’s talked about every day. I think Jimmy just can’t wait to see all the options, hear everybody out and make his decision and then move on."
The Sabres have been working to sign Vesey ever since they acquired his rights from the Nashville Predators in the offseason. Vesey was a third round pick of Nashville's in the 2012 draft before he went on to star at Harvard.
A recent report stated that Vesey had cut his list down to six teams, and Fish confirmed the Chicago Blackhawks are one of the teams the 23-year-old wants to speak to.
Vesey's father is a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins aren't far from his hometown in Massachusetts, so one would think those two teams would be in the mix as well.
That being said, Fish noted his client isn't someone who craves the spotlight of a big hockey market.
"I think he would prefer to be under the radar," Fish said. "He’s not the type of kid who enjoys necessarily being talked about all the time. He’s a good teammate, he’s a good kid. He’s pretty quiet and quietly goes about his business as a hockey player. He’s not afraid of the spotlight or anything like that. He’s a kid that probably prefers to fly under the radar a bit."
