Is Jimmy Vesey our #1 Prospect?

[FLYLine27*]

TSN did their ranking back in February and had him listed as the 8th best drafted prospect, Buchnevich was ranked 21st.

What do you think? Where does he slot into in our prospect ranking?

http://www.tsn.ca/tsn-hockey-s-top-50-nhl-affiliated-prospects-1.436669


Top 3 Prospects according to our ranking last Jan:
1) Buchnevich
2) McIlrath
3) Skjei

Click to read more...

 

[NYRFAN218]

3rd behind Buchnevich and Skjei.

 

[Irishguy42]

No. He's not. Buch and Skjei are #1 and #2.

He's Top 5 though. Likely #3.

 

[Ghost of jas]

Buch is #1

 

[NYRFAN218]

No. He's not. Buch and Skjei are #1 and #2.

He's Top 5 though. Likely #3.

He's absolutely 3 to me. Vesey is pretty much a player that's NHL ready which, to me at least, has to jump him over the likes of Kovacs, Shesterkin, and Gropp. That leaves McIlrath if we're still considering him a prospect and I'd have him over McIlrath just based on the upside of each player.

Buchnevich has a much higher ceiling than Vesey with his talent and Skjei I think has higher upside on defense.

 

[darko]

1. Buch
2. Skjei
3. Vesey

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Top 5

Buch is #1. I wouldn't argue with Vesey, Skjei, Shestyorkin, Graves in any order after that.

I'd have it

Buch
Shestyorkin
Skjei
Graves
Vesey

 

[FLYLine27*]

This is a tough one for me. Buch has the higher upside, but Vesey is the safer prospect.

Next season I expect Vesey to be the better player since I think it will be more of an adjustment for Buch.

Long term, it's a toughie....Vesey could turn into a very nice 25-30g - 60-65p player...But Buch could be better...

Vesey is absolutely a better prospect than Skjei though.

I'll rank him #2. He's getting underrated on the board. Probably reading too much of the negative junk on the main board. Every prospect report says this kid is the real deal.

 

[EdJovanovski]

I think he's second, behind Buchnevich before Skjei.

 

[darko]

This is a tough one for me. Buch has the higher upside, but Vesey is the safer prospect.

Next season I expect Vesey to be the better player since I think it will be more of an adjustment for Buch.

Long term, it's a toughie....Vesey could turn into a very nice 25-30g - 60-65p player...But Buch could be better...

Vesey is absolutely a better prospect than Skjei though.

I'll rank him #2. He's getting underrated on the board. Probably reading too much of the negative junk on the main board. Every prospect report says this kid is the real deal.

I'd be stoked if Vesey turns into a 60-65 point player.

For now I'm expecting 35-40 point upside. We'll get a better feel come January/February.

 

[Brooklyn Rangers Fan]

1. Buch
2. Skjei
3. Vesey

Agreed.

 

[FLYLine27*]

I'd be stoked if Vesey turns into a 60-65 point player.

For now I'm expecting 35-40 point upside. We'll get a better feel come January/February.

That point total is if ALL goes perfect.

Realistically, I think he will turn into a nice 50 point player for us. Good 2nd liner.

 

[Idlerlee]

1. Skjei
2. Buch
3. Vesey

Skjei is the future captain of this organization. Im staking 4 dollars on it

 

[Fitzy]

1. Skjei
2. Buch
3. Vesey

Skjei is the future captain of this organization. Im staking 4 dollars on it

I also have Skjei higher on the list than Buchnevich. I think he has a much better chance of becoming a top pairing defenseman than Buch does of becoming a top line forward.

Skjei
Buch
Vesey
Graves
Kovacs
Shestyorkhin
Day
Gropp

 

[Gospel of Prospal]

1. Skjei
2. Vesey
3. Buch

 

[New York RKY]

1. Buch
2. Skjei
3. Vesey

I'd go with this.

Buch has the potential to be a game breaker offensively.

 

[FLYLine27*]

I can see any argument for Vesey being a top 3 prospect(at any spot)...but I can't see any argument that he is outside the top 3.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I can see any argument for Vesey being a top 3 prospect...but I can't see any argument that he is outside the top 3.

The argument is that his ceiling isn't very high. Who's to say he'll be any better than a middle six forward? He's not a good skater, across the board, he might not have any standout skills. He might not even be a middle six forward.

Matt Gilroy won the Hobey Baker, and he's now playing in the KHL. Couldn't stay in the NHL for more than a few seasons, so winning the Hobey Baker doesn't guarantee you a spot in an NHL lineup for 10 years.

I think Buch, Skjei, Shestyorkin and Graves all have higher ceilings than Vesey, and I think all of them are far along towards reaching their ceilings, its not some "Sean Day could be a #1 defenseman, if this and this and this" scenario, all of them are already good hockey players who have shown a lot of potential towards reaching their ceilings, thus I have Vesey outside the top 3.

 

[FLYLine27*]

The argument is that his ceiling isn't very high. Who's to say he'll be any better than a middle six forward? He's not a good skater, across the board, he might not have any standout skills. He might not even be a middle six forward.

Matt Gilroy won the Hobey Baker, and he's now playing in the KHL. Couldn't stay in the NHL for more than a few seasons, so winning the Hobey Baker doesn't guarantee you a spot in an NHL lineup for 10 years.

I think Buch, Skjei, Shestyorkin and Graves all have higher ceilings than Vesey, and I think all of them are far along towards reaching their ceilings, its not some "Sean Day could be a #1 defenseman, if this and this and this" scenario, all of them are already good hockey players who have shown a lot of potential towards reaching their ceilings, thus I have Vesey outside the top 3.

Where did you get he isn't a good skater? He is not a speeder but he is extremely on par in skating and not a weakness. This is HF's take on his skating "Skating (Speed/edges/technique/etc)
Vesey is very strong on his feet. His straight-ahead speed is short of elite, verging closer to average, but he is more than fast enough. Giving him a head of steam, he will find a second gear, but again, he is not a burner. Where he raises his grade is when we include his agility and edge-work. He can move around in all four directions, often with very tight shift from direction to direction. All in all, he is an above-average skater. Grade: 55"

Gilroy? C'on man. Gilroy was also like 24 when he won the Hobey Baker, no idea why he was even playing in college that old.

You need to read some more scouting reports on him and stop reading all the salty comments on the main board that say he is only a 3rd liner in the NHL.

Shestyorkin is ahead of him? He is about as unproven as they come so far. Sure he might be a great diamond in a rough, or he might never even step foot in the NHL.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

The argument is that his ceiling isn't very high. Who's to say he'll be any better than a middle six forward? He's not a good skater, across the board, he might not have any standout skills. He might not even be a middle six forward.

Matt Gilroy won the Hobey Baker, and he's now playing in the KHL. Couldn't stay in the NHL for more than a few seasons, so winning the Hobey Baker doesn't guarantee you a spot in an NHL lineup for 10 years.

I think Buch, Skjei, Shestyorkin and Graves all have higher ceilings than Vesey, and I think all of them are far along towards reaching their ceilings, its not some "Sean Day could be a #1 defenseman, if this and this and this" scenario, all of them are already good hockey players who have shown a lot of potential towards reaching their ceilings, thus I have Vesey outside the top 3.

One thing about Gilroy though was he was a one-dimensional defenseman who was two full years older than Vesey when he won the Hobey. He clearly was a kid who used his age to his advantage, whereas Vesey was more of a traditional winner age-wise (although it's BS that he won -- Connor should have).

But I agree that he's not in the top-3. At least not now.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Where did you get he isn't a good skater? He is not a speeder but he is extremely on par in skating and not a weakness. This is HF's take on his skating "Skating (Speed/edges/technique/etc)
Vesey is very strong on his feet. His straight-ahead speed is short of elite, verging closer to average, but he is more than fast enough. Giving him a head of steam, he will find a second gear, but again, he is not a burner. Where he raises his grade is when we include his agility and edge-work. He can move around in all four directions, often with very tight shift from direction to direction. All in all, he is an above-average skater. Grade: 55"

Gilroy? C'on man. Gilroy was also like 24 when he won the Hobey Baker, no idea why he was even playing in college that old.

You need to read some more scouting reports on him and stop reading all the salty comments on the main board that say he is only a 3rd liner in the NHL.

Shestyorkin is ahead of him? He is about as unproven as they come so far. Sure he might be a great diamond in a rough, or he might never even step foot in the NHL.

I'm not saying its the same situation as Gilroy. I'm just using it as an example that not every very good NCAA player is a good NHL player. There are plenty of other examples of very good NCAA players who weren't good NHL players. Vesey's played in the WJC and WC's, two tournaments I watch. I also watch some college hockey. I've watched him play over 10 times. I don't think he'll be a good skater in the NHL. The standard to be a good NHL skater is so high. I like his game, but I'm not sure he has any real standout tool. It would be easier to say what he'll be in the NHL, if he had one or two tools that were so obviously elite for the NHL level, instead I think he's pretty good at most things instead of great at anything. Those are reasons why he could fail in the NHL. I'd be surprised if he did, but there's a chance, I'm not going to just act like Vesey's better than he is because he signed with the Rangers. Middle six winger is what I expect, outside chance he's a first line winger, outside chance he's not an NHL player. You can look at my posts before we signed Vesey, I said four days ago that I thought he'd be a middle six winger.

I think many have made the case for Buch and Skjei above Vesey, so I think you understand my argument for them. Graves has a really intriguing skill-set. Pretty good all around, has excellent size, and an elite shot. He's also more than potential, was an AHL-All Star in his first season, and probably isn't more than a year away from being NHL ready. I think he'll be a good middle pairing defenseman, and if he improves more defensively, he could be a #2D. The case for Shestyorkin is that he's an elite goalie prospect who just hasn't gotten the playing time to match his skills and play at lower levels, so he may be going under the radar, I think he is. If he's eventually an above average starting goalie in the NHL, thats a more valuable player than a middle six winger, and I don't think he's that far from being NHL ready. He's already good enough to start in the KHL, maybe or maybe not with the best team in the KHL, but if he wasn't playing for SKA, he'd probably be a starter in the second best league in the world. Just bad luck the team he plays for.

 

[Revel]

I gotta go with Buch @ #1. Vesey could be #2 or #3. I went with #3.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

I think he's second, behind Buchnevich before Skjei.

This is how I have it.

We have a very clear top 3 with a noticeable gap after. Not that that's a bad thing.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

I can see any argument for Vesey being a top 3 prospect(at any spot)...but I can't see any argument that he is outside the top 3.

There is no argument that he's out of the top 3. Well, none that are remotely reasonable or sensible

 

[RempireStateBuilding]

The one thing I remember seeing I think from the main boards from one of the HF article writers regarding Vesey's skating was that he doesn't have an explosive first step. Don't recall anything negative about his skating other than that. We'll find out eventually anyway.