The Canucks claim forward Jimmy Vesey off waivers
The Vancouver Canucks push for the playoffs continues. The club announced today, that Toronto Maple Leafs forward, Jimmy Vesey, has been claimed off waivers by Vancouver.
The 27-year-old Vesey has registered five goals and 7 points through 30 contests this season. He decided to sign with the Maple Leafs in the offseason for a friendly contract worth just $900,000.
Salary cap issues are what caused Toronto to make the move, and the Canucks were quick to capitalize on the opportunity. Vesey is a good bottom-six contributor, and when he’s on top of his game he can be an effective goal-scorer.
For whatever reason, he struggled to be an important role player in their system this year and was being outplayed by veteran players like Jason Spezza and Joe Thorton. And as it turns out… Leafs general manager, Kyle Dubas, decided Vesey was the guy that needed to hit the waiver wire.
The Boston Massachusetts native was originally drafted by the Nashville Predators in the third round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, but he decided to go the college route before ultimately signing his first NHL contract with the New York Rangers.
Vesey spent three seasons in New York before spending a single season in Buffalo. Vancouver is now his fourth NHL team in five years, and he’ll be joining them today in Ottawa.
Vesey has hit the 17-goal mark two times and has been a 15+ goal-scorer three times in five years. His point production has dropped over the past two years, but under the right coaching staff and through the right linemates, there is no reason to believe that Vesey can’t get back to being a 35-point player like he was in 2018-19.
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Don’t expect Vesey to be in the game against the Senators tonight, but he could draw into the lineup sooner rather than later. Nice work, Mr. Jim Benning. This was a good move.