Vesey gets a shot, but one move leads to another
Jimmy Vesey’s signing with the Maple Leafs is a feel-good story that could lead to some tough decisions around the corner.
The former Harvard forward and Hobey Baker Award winner landed with the Leafs late Sunday on a one-year deal worth $900,000 (U.S.). He was their sixth addition, including trades, since free agency opened at noon Friday and a player they had pursued in the past.
The 27-year-old Vesey was also a free agent in 2016 after he couldn’t come to terms with the Nashville Predators, who had drafted him in the third round in 2012. His father, Jim Vesey Sr., was a Leafs scout at the time. Vesey chose the New York Rangers back then. Now he’s part of a roster reshaping that has seen the club bolster its defence and bottom-six forward options with affordable moves.
Outside of defenceman T.J. Brodie — who signed a fouryear, $20-million deal Friday — the Leafs have added forward Wayne Simmonds at $1.5 million and the rest for less than $1 million a year.
They’re left with j ust $406,000 in cap space, but haven’t had to part with any core pieces. General manager Kyle Dubas has focused on adding size, grit and experience, with defenceman Zach Bogosian and forwards Travis Boyd and Joey Anderson also in the mix.
More players could go, but so far the reshaping has meant a change of scenery for forwards Andreas Johnsson (traded to New Jersey), Kasperi Kapanen (traded to Pittsburgh), Frederik Gauthier (unsigned), Kyle Clifford (signed with St. Louis, two years) and Evan Rodrigues (Pittsburgh, one year), and defencemen Tyson Barrie (Edmonton, one year) and Cody Ceci (unsigned). There’s still work to do: >The Leafs need a No. 3 goalie behind Frederik Andersen and
Jack Campbell, with Kasimir Kaskisuo an unrestricted free agent. Joseph Woll and Ian Scott form the AHL Marlies duo at the moment, but more depth is needed.
>Forward Ilya Mikheyev is the only unsigned restricted free agent and has elected salary arbitration after his first season, when his salary was $925,000.
>The market for experienced defencemen remains solid, so there could be more additions. Madison Bowey, Michael Del Zotto, Ben Hutton, Jan Rutta, Andy Greene and Dmitry Kulikov were among those still available as of Monday night. Defence is like pitching: you can never have too much.
They can go 10 per cent over the $81.5-million cap in the short term as long as they’re back under by the start of the season.
With 22 players signed and a 23-man NHL limit, though, they can afford to go with what they have. If so, Dubas and coach Sheldon Keefe already have the makings of a competitive training camp. It’s a good problem to have.
Cap space is always a consideration, however, and beyond short-term needs they have contract talks looming with key defenceman Morgan Rielly and forward Zach Hyman in the coming year.
The Vesey signing could also have an impact on three other forwards: Pierre Engvall, Alex
Kerfoot and Nick Robertson.
Engvall signed a two-year, $2.5-million extension in February, while Kerfoot signed a four-year, $14-million deal with the Leafs in 2019. Those numbers stick out on a club that’s close to the cap and now deeper up front.
Meanwhile, Robertson, the19year-old OHL scoring star who performed well in four playoff games with the Leafs, needs to play at a time when the pandemic has put the American Hockey League and many other seasons in doubt for the foreseeable future.
Clearing playing time for him at the NHL level might be a necessity. The same goes for young defencemen Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren, as well as several players signed in Europe.
Vesey will get the chance to win a job in training camp, four years after passing up his first shot. But in uncertain times, the competition might be different by the time camp opens.