Nothing is being handed out just yet concerning the Rangers’ opening-night roster, but for the first time in a long time, youth seems to be a prevailing factor heading into opening day of training camp late next week.
That was made very clear on Thursday, when the group that skated and then headed off for the annual Traverse City prospects tournament in Michigan had a few headliners who could make an immediate impact. There was Jimmy Vesey on the left side and Pavel Buchnevich on the right of what will be the top line in this four-team tournament that starts on Friday.
Both Vesey and Buchnevich will be legitimate contenders for Rangers roster spots as camp opens with physicals next Thursday, yet neither is taking anything for granted.
“Nothing is given in sports,” the 23-year-old Vesey said. “At the end of the day, I have to go and make the team. It’s my first camp, and I’m looking to definitely turn some heads and earn a roster spot.”
Vesey chose the Rangers this summer after his senior year at Harvard — which earned him the Hobey Baker Award as the country’s best collegiate player — because the team convinced him it was a good fit.
“They thought that they needed me as part of the team,” is how Vesey put it. Asked if he thinks he’s ready to contribute at the NHL level right away, Vesey was succinct.
“Yeah,” he said, “I think I can.”
Surely, the Rangers could use a boost of talent — who couldn’t? — and some youthful exuberance wouldn’t hurt the previously veteran-laden team. Although the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Vesey said he worked hard in the weight room this summer to get stronger for the pro game, it’s still a big question mark whether he’s ready to contribute in a top-nine capacity right away.
“I’m not going to go with the mindset that it’s going to be given to me,” he said. “I still have to earn my spot, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
After such a hectic summer with so much attention paid to his free agency, Vesey is looking forward to finally putting on the Rangers sweater.
“I’ve grown up with hockey my whole life, I’m from a hockey town, and I definitely wanted to play in a city where they appreciate hockey,” said Vesey, a Boston native. “I think New York offers that.”
Buchnevich, meanwhile, seems to be rather confident that his play-making talent can translate to the North American game. Having played the previous four seasons as a pro in the KHL in his native Russia, the biggest adjustment for 21-year-old is to the lifestyle and language. He spent seven weeks this summer with a host family in Connecticut while working out, and then went home for two weeks to collect his things before returning on Sept. 1.
“I’m tried of practicing,” he said jokingly, through an interpreter. “I want to start playing.”
There will be NHL veterans in training camp against whom Vesey and Buchnevich have to compete directly, including recent imports Nathan Gerbe, Michael Grabner, Josh Jooris and Brandon Pirri. That makes it a rather interesting situation for coach Alain Vigneault, choosing between youth and experience. Yet that is an option that he hasn’t had much of in the past, and one he surely will embrace.