There Was Nothing Wrong with Overhyped Jimmy Vesey's Decision-Making Process

Last week, the New York Rangers ended the biggest NHL free-agent race since July 1 by signing forward Jimmy Vesey to an entry-level contract.

Virtually everything about Vesey's deal with the Rangers was controversial: his decision to go to free agency, the length of time he took to make up his mind and the amount of attention drawn by an unproven player. All of it has been criticized. In Buffalo and Nashville, particularly, there is also the usual backlash that accompanies rejection by a high-profile player.

Given the controversy, it’s worth noting Vesey merely exercised his rights as defined by the NHL/NHLPA collective bargaining agreement, and there was nothing wrong with his chosen course. It’s also worth adding that the hype was less a product of some impressive PR machine surrounding the player than it was a creation of a news-starved media covering hockey 12 months out of the year.

Sara D. Davis/Getty Images

First, it’s important to realize Vesey going to free agency wasn’t the result of some loophole. Plenty of high-profile college players in similar positions went that route prior to the last CBA negotiations, including Blake Wheeler and Justin Schultz, and the league had the opportunity to change the rules in 2012. It opted not to do so; ergo, it views this route to free agency as legitimate.

Still, there’s a belief Vesey ought to have signed with the Nashville Predators—the team that drafted him 66th overall. Certainly, there’s a case it would have been a wise decision. The Preds are a good team, a contender with a need up front, and it’s difficult to argue against living in the Nashville, Tennessee, area.

Yet, as wise as that course may have been, Vesey wanted to keep his options open. The Predators either knew or should have known the risk they were assuming when they drafted him out of the Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL) in 2012. Further, the Predators had four years to convince Vesey they were the team for him. Obviously, they failed to do so.

Rather than wait for Vesey to depart in August, the Preds cut their losses, shipping him to Buffalo for a third-round pick. The Sabres have even less right than Nashville to complain about this outcome, because general manager Tim Murray walked in with his eyes open.

Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

“I don't consider it to be a bold move,” Murray told the Associated Press at the time (h/t CBC.ca). “It's a gamble.”

Sometimes gambles don’t work out. This one didn’t. If it had, Murray would have come away with a good player at a steep discount.

Vesey didn’t waste much time in free agency, either. Although the process seemed drawn out, he only became a free agent on August 15. He signed in New York four days later. In between, he and his representatives met with a long list of teams, trying to pick the best place for the 23-year-old to spend the next half-decade or more of his career. Four days isn’t much time to do that.

Of course, the reason this all felt so drawn out was because, even though Vesey only had four days of free agency, his situation underwent months of media speculation beforehand.

That isn’t the media’s fault. Hockey fans demand news year-round, and August is the slowest month for the sport, with the draft and free agency long in the rearview mirror and the preseason still weeks away. So the few stories of any significance, like Vesey's, get almost the same amount of attention as more important events in busier months.

At the end of it all, there is little to complain about.

Nashville knew the rules and the chance it was taking; Buffalo was even more aware of its gamble. Vesey didn’t take long to make up his mind, and it wasn’t his fault a spotlight came on every time he so much as sneezed.

Jonathan Willis covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for more of his work.