Rangers' Jimmy Vesey sinks teeth into all-around role
Rangers left wing Jimmy Vesey skates against the Ducks in the first period of an NHL game at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 15. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
GREENBURGH — When the Rangers returned to action Wednesday night, following their three-day Christmas break, forward Jimmy Vesey was back wearing the regular eye shield on his helmet, as opposed to the full face shield he had been wearing the last five games before the break.
He was, though, missing one of his front teeth.
“I thought they were going to be able to save my teeth, with braces,’’ Vesey said at Wednesday’s morning skate, before the Rangers hosted the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden. “But when [the braces] came off, the tooth was too loose. So it had to come out.
“And I potentially might lose one more,’’ he added. “But everything's good. No pain, nothing. Just, the stitches are out, and I just don't have a tooth.’’
It’s not as though losing a tooth is unusual for a hockey player, of course. As Vesey sees it, it’s just part of the job. His front teeth had caps on them anyway, having been broken in half years ago. The most recent injury occurred in a practice Dec. 14, when Vesey was standing in line waiting for his turn to participate in a drill and a puck ricocheted off the crossbar and hit him in the mouth. He left practice and went straight to the dentist, but he didn’t miss the next night’s game against Anaheim. He even scored a goal in that one.
That goal was his seventh, in 30 games, and puts him on pace to finish with 19 goals if he plays the whole season. His career high is 17, done twice, in his second and third seasons, during his first tour of duty with the Rangers.
In those days, Vesey was a young goal-scorer playing on a third line. Now, at 30, he’s a veteran in his eighth season, playing primarily as a fourth-line checker and penalty killer.
“I think he's a smart player, a responsible player,’’ coach Peter Laviolette said of Vesey. “This is somebody who's grown inside of his game. He's not 22 years old anymore. He's a player that's been around, played on some teams, and I think he's added elements to his game. And so, for somebody who came out of college as an offensive threat — I still think he has that, because he's scoring goals and he's creating — but I also think that he's a well-rounded player, and somebody that we can count on to defend, or kill penalties, or help out on the power play.’’
Laviolette said he appreciates Vesey’s versatility. The 6-2, 200-pounder can play up lineup, in a more offensive role, or down among the bottom six forwards, in a more defensive role. He can play left wing or right wing, which makes him an option to play on any line, and after being in the regular rotation of penalty-killing forwards all season, he’d been used on the second power play for 12 games.
When he was looking for the right wing to join the top line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, Laviolette opted to keep Vesey on the fourth line, and wait for Blake Wheeler to mesh with Kreider and Zibanejad. In the meantime, the coach began using the fourth line — with Vesey, Barclay Goodrow and Tyler Pitlick — as a checking line, at times, matching them against other teams’ top lines. And the trio has thrived in that role.
“We're taking pride in our job, which a lot of nights has been going against other teams’ top lines,’’ Vesey said. “And I think, the more we're challenged, the more we've risen up to it.’’
The challenge against Washington likely was going to be checking Alexander Ovechkin, the NHL’s No. 2 all-time goal-scorer, with 828 entering Wednesday. Ovechkin’s goals are down this season, though. He entered Wednesday’s game with only six, having turned into more of a facilitator (14 assists) than finisher.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
