Continuing report card season and keeping the theme of players no longer with the Rangers, we dive into the Jimmy Vesey report card. Vesey was a solid surprise for the Rangers, turning a PTO into a solid two and a half season return on Broadway. Vesey did everything asked of him, playing in the top-six, bottom-six, and then finding a solid role on the fourth line prior to the 2024-2025 season. By last season, he was a spare forward. A good one, but a spare forward nonetheless.
Vesey’s demotion to spare forward was not due to anything he did on the ice. He had simply been outplayed by Adam Edstrom, who effectively took his spot last season. In fairness to Vesey, there should have been a better rotation with Matt Rempe and/or Jonny Brodzinski on the fourth line, but it’s tough to argue against playing the kids. Edstrom in particular was solid.
Vesey finished last season with four goals and six points in 33 games before being dealt with Ryan Lindgren to Colorado. It was a far cry from his two 25 point seasons leading up to the 2024-2025 season, but with less ice time comes fewer points.
That said, Vesey did fall off a bit last season. It’s tough to say how much was due to the absolute train wreck that was the Rangers last year, but there was a dip in his game. Considering he’s having trouble finding an NHL job this year and he only played 10 games with Colorado, there may be some decline in his game. But for his 2.5 seasons with the Rangers, he was solid.
For our 2024-2025 Jimmy Vesey report card, I’m going to do something a little different. He played half the minutes he did last season, and though there was a dip, there wasn’t much time to allow him to rebound. Perhaps it’s a bias, and I’m ok admitting that, I think it’s a better approach to look at his role and perhaps why his numbers took a hit.
Vesey spent most of his time this season with Sam Carrick and Adam Edstrom, and the line was particularly effective. But where Vesey started to show some signs of regression were in his giveaways, which almost tripled from last season’s 1.2 giveaways/60 to 3.32. His takeaways/60 halved from 1.69 to 0.87. Put those two together, and you have more high danger chances against, impacting his numbers with the Rangers. Turnover ratio wasn’t just a Vesey problem, but it certainly impacted his on-ice stats with the Rangers.
For what it’s worth, his giveaway/takeaway ratio improved significantly when he was traded to Colorado.
Vesey was an effective Ranger for his final two full seasons on Broadway. Unfortunately he, like the rest of the team, forgot how to protect the puck last season. It wasn’t isolated to Vesey, but it’s also a fact that he regressed, specifically with turnovers.
2024-2025 Jimmy Vesey report card grade: C
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