Rangers Win Jimmy Vesey Sweepstakes

By ESPN

The New York Rangers have won the Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes.

Vesey, 23, the reigning Hobey Baker Award winner, agreed on a two-year, entry-level deal with the Rangers, the team announced Friday.

Vesey became a free agent at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. In addition to the Buffalo Sabres, who owned exclusive negotiating rights from June 20 to this past Monday, Vesey entered the market with a list of seven teams he considered, and he met with those organizations over a two-day period in Boston, along with his agents, Peter Fish and Peter Donatelli.

Vesey said the history of the Rangers organization and its status as an Original Six franchise had a lot to do with his decision.

"This week I did do a lot of meetings, and it was definitely a tough decision, but myself, my agent and my family were very impressed with the Rangers in our meeting," Vesey said. "Talking with coach [Alain] Vigneault and [general manager] Jeff Gorton and Chris Drury, I was really impressed with those guys, and I just thought that New York was somewhere I could play and hopefully stick in the NHL.

"The thing that jumped out at me was they seemed to really want me, and from talking to them it seemed that they really needed to have me in their lineup and it seemed like they believe in me, so that was something I was looking for, and based on our talks, New York was the right fit."