Jimmy Vesey can provide Rangers unique Devils perspective

NHL

By Mollie Walker

April 17, 2023 | 1:12am

Before Jimmy Vesey turned a professional tryout contract into an extension with the Rangers this season, the 29-year-old winger first did it with the Devils a year earlier.

It was his play during his time in New Jersey that caught the eye of the Rangers’ front office, which now houses a different managerial team than the one that convinced a 23-year-old Vesey to sign in New York instead of with the six other clubs that wanted him.

Vesey scored eight goals and dished seven assists in 58 games for New Jersey last season, over which he served as a top penalty killer averaging 2:01 of shorthanded ice time, which was tied with Michael McLeod for the fifth most on the team.

“It’s a little weird I guess,” Vesey said of facing his former team in the first round after practice on Saturday. “It’s pretty much the same team, so I got to know most of their guys last year. I enjoyed my time there last year and thought it was a good season for me to get my game back where it needed to be.

“As much as I liked all those guys, I’m sure they’ll probably say the same: it’s the playoffs. It’s serious and definitely not friends out there.”

If anybody knows what the Devils are capable of, it’s Vesey.

He noted how the Devils like to circle and build up speed when they have the puck in the offensive zone, while also describing the likes of Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt as elite skaters.

The Devils want to get the puck through the middle of the neutral zone by way of their speed, he added.

“I know it kind of feels like they kind of came out of nowhere this year, but if you watched last year, we were a playoff team by Thanksgiving,” Vesey said. “Obviously, we fell out of the standings. [Dougie] Hamilton got hurt and missed significant time, and we used, I think, nine goalies last year. But just guys like [Nico] Hischier, Hughes, Bratt, you could see them kind of taking off last year, and they put it together this year. They’ve got good goaltending. It should be a fun one.”

The broadcast schedule for the Rangers-Devils series:

Games 1 and 2 in New Jersey will begin at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. respectively, and will be aired on MSG and TBS. ABC will air Game 3 at the Garden at 8 p.m., while MSG and ESPN get Game 4 in New York at 7 p.m. The times and channels of Games 5, 6 and 7, if they’re needed, are to be determined.