Jimmy Vesey understands this is all part of that overarching “process,” that sometimes a second-year player is going to be on a short leash and might end up stapled to the bench. And sometimes, good graces don’t last very long.
The Rangers winger played what he called “maybe my best game of the season” in a 2-1 overtime win against the Lightning in Tampa on Thursday, an individual performance coach Alain Vigneault described as “a real strong game against a real strong opponent.” It was preceded two nights prior by a 6-4 win comeback win of the Golden Knights when Vesey scored the first goal and still sat for the final 9:18 of regulation, as well as a 5-4 loss in Montreal on Oct. 28, when he sat for the final 25:25. Then on Monday at the Garden, Vesey was on for two goals against as his team went down 2-0, and then he sat for the final 22:45 as the Rangers came back for a 5-3 win over the Blue Jackets.
“What are you going to say when you’ve been on the ice for two goals against?” Vesey told The Post on Wednesday morning, as the Blueshirts took a four-game winning streak into a nationally televised Garden match against the Bruins. “I’m just going to keep working hard. I’ve been out at the end of games before, so just want to make sure I keep having good habits and consistency and keep developing that trust where [Vigneault] wants to have me out there.”
After his much-ballyhooed decision before last season to sign with the Rangers as a free agent out of Harvard, Vesey is still adjusting to life as a professional while trying to establish an on-ice identity. In his rookie season, he came out of the gate offensively flying, putting up six goals and nine points in his first 10 games in the league. But in the first 16 games of his second year, he had put up just two goals and three points, but doesn’t think that’s a total reflection of his overall performance.
“I think at this point last year, obviously I had more points, but I think this year I’m actually a better player — if that makes sense,” Vesey said. “My skating, my physicality, my work ethic has been at a higher level this year.”
For a while, Vesey seemed to find some chemistry on a line with Kevin Hayes and Jesper Fast. They were a defensively responsible unit that Vigneault could trust during a time when the Rangers were losing in troves.
But it was broken up during that game against Vegas on Halloween, and since then, Vesey has been on a line with David Desharnais and J.T. Miller. With Desharnais having a penchant for making risky plays and occasionally turning the puck over in dangerous places — so much so that Vigneault was going to make him a healthy scratch against the Panthers before Boo Nieves came down with a stomach bug — Vesey has been put in some precarious defensive situations that he hasn’t been able to rectify.
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“He, I believe, can be better,” Vigneault said. “He’s still a very young player, second year into the league. I believe there is a lot of potential and upside there. I believe he’s got a great attitude and great work ethic. I think sometimes in a 82-game season, you go through phases. Right now, he’s trying to find his rhythm and trying to find his game.”
With this being the final year of his two-year, entry-level deal before reaching restricted free agency (with arbitration rights), there isn’t a ton of time for the Rangers to decide exactly what they have in the 24-year-old Vesey. Vigneault said he expected him to be in their top six this year, but “at this time, he’s not.”
So it’s on Vesey to show that he’s worthy of being out there, because there isn’t much wiggle room for him to make mistakes.
“I think that’s also part of my development,” Vesey said. “So in a couple years or whatever, maybe I’m the guy on the ice all the time because of what I’ve watched and learned or gone through and made mistakes and learned from.”