Highly touted free agent not likely to sign with one team.

Jimmy Vesey appears to be narrowing his choices down.

The former Harvard captain hits free agency on August 15, and is by far the hottest commodity on the market right now. The 23-year-old college standout will take some meetings and explore his options before hand-picking his team of choice with whom to sign his entry-level deal.

Sources indicate that Vesey has narrowed his prospective teams down to four, the Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins. However one of those teams may now be a big underdog for his services. 

According to one of those sources the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils may also be in the running.

According to Joe Haggerty of CSSNE, the Bruins are not a favourite to land Vesey. This contradicts what Vesey told CSN last month, when he spoke very highly of the Bruins and their rich history.

“I’ve said it all along that Boston is definitely on my list of teams that I’d like to talk to,” said Vesey during that interview with CSN. “It’s a team that I’ve rooted for all my life, and it’s a team that I watched win the Stanley Cup in 2011. I’ll definitely be meeting with Boston in August.

“I was a huge Joe Thornton fan growing up. He wore No. 19. I wear No. 19. He was my favorite player. I got to know Torey Krug a little bit through playing with him at the world championships last year.  So it would be really cool to play with Torey and put on the Bruins jersey. It’s the team that I’ve watched for my whole life.”

The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder is certainly drawing a ton of interest and the Bruins are probably very upset to hear that they are on his short list, but not one of the favourites. There is still time for them to woo Vesey, and it appears that they have some work to do to beat out the likes of the Leafs, Hawks and Sabres.

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