Thanks for the YT tip, that'll make life easier in future.
And obviously I'm not COMPARING Vey to Prust or saying they are EQUIVALENT. I'm merely saying even a slug like Prust has SOME skill, so you can't qualify a player as skilled in a vacuum. It needs to be relative to the level that is present in the larger population (in this case the NHL). So while Prust is at or near the very bottom of skill, I still see Vey as having skill that is probably in the 40th-50th percentile (i.e. average-to-slighly-below-average). Yes he shows the odd flash I suppose, but shift-in, shift-out it simply isn't there. He only *looks* like a skill player because of the absence of any other defining trait. If he hit like Virtanen or worked as hard as Burrows I doubt anyone would call him a "skill player", they would call him a role player, even if you keep his skill level exactly what it is today.
So to wrap this up, I will concede two points:
1. Based on his CHL and AHL career, I can accept that Benning likely *thought* he was acquiring a skilled player in Vey, though if I also assume he watched Vey in any capacity then he should have been realistic in the "level" of skill Vey actually possessed. I don't see him as a Kyle Wellwood who had skill coming out his ass but simply didn't have the skating, size, or dedication to translate it to the NHL. Unless his skills have drastically diminished, I suspect his numbers were a result of slightly above average skill (for the league he was in), big minutes, and talented line mates resulting in inflated numbers.
2. Lacking any other identifiable trait, I suppose Vey is a "more skill than anything else" player. He is not highly skilled, but I guess relative to his other traits then skill is the default position. Still seems a very apologetic description of skill but whatever.