North Reading’s Vesey signs with the NY Rangers

He had his pick of schools four years ago. This time around, he had his pick of NHL teams. Why? Because good things always happen to smart and talented people.

Jimmy Vesey had his choice and he picked the New York Rangers, so they signed the 23-year-old North Reading native to a two-year contract.

What a throwback that was.

The Boston Bruins were in on Vesey and while he was on the short list of teams it looked like he would sign with, there was not really a point where Boston seemed to be the most likely destination.

The Bruins didn’t even use any Boston sports heroes like Tom Brady, David Ortiz, Bobby Orr, Bill Russell, Aly Raisman or Stephen King in their pitch, so what do they really expect? Now if you had an eight-man table with those six, Vesey and a Bruins front office rep, then a deal probably would have been done.

But in reality, Vesey seemed to be looking to fit his own needs first. After all, he is the guy who passed up the opportunity to join the Nashville Predators postseason roster during the 2015-2016 season because he wanted to finish his career at Harvard and land an Ivy League degree. That never sits well with a team, so they traded his rights to Buffalo, but Vesey did not want to play for Buffalo — hence why he was a free agent.

So just how good will Vesey be? Well, he is going to contribute right away. And he won a Hobey Baker this past season. You want to know who won them in the previous two years? Johnny Gaudreau and Jack Eichel. Gaudreau is from New Jersey but went to BC. And Eichel is from North Chelmsford and went to BU. Not bad company. Not bad company at all.