Jimmy Vesey's Bold Decision to Spurn Predators Is Admirable

Jimmy Vesey was never going to look good when he informed the Nashville Predators late Monday he would not sign with them because he preferred to become a free agent on Aug. 15.

At worst, Vesey lied to general manager David Poile when he told him before the trade deadline he would join the Predators at the end of the regular season; more likely, Vesey had a change of heart or was never all that sure about signing with Nashville in the first place and now he will choose his place of employment for the next seven-plus years on his terms.

Poile took this hard and personally, as he should. Vesey opted against burning the first year of an entry-level contract and playing top-six minutes for a postseason team in exchange for the right to sign an identical maxed-out entry-level deal elsewhere for next season.

"This is the first time I'm going to say this in my career as a general manager—I clearly believe that Jimmy has received bad advice and bad counsel," Poile told reporters Monday night. "A player usually goes to free agency in order to increase his leverage and to benefit financially, and that will not be the case here."

The Predators invested four years in the 22-year-old Vesey after selecting him in the third round of the 2012 draft and stood pat at the deadline because they were under the impression Vesey would join the club when Harvard's season ended. Poile has every right to feel his feelings and say mean things about Vesey, his agent and his family to the media and behind closed doors.

In a way, Vesey is saying he thinks so little of Nashville as a team and as a city that he'd rather play elsewhere for the same money and do so a year later.

If Vesey didn't convey clearly that he was 100 percent sure he'd sign with the Predators, sure, that's a jerk move. But that's all it is, as it seems ludicrous that Vesey and his management team were secretly plotting against the organization all along from a secret bunker, laughing maniacally when they informed Poile.

What Vesey is doing is actually quite admirable—he's sacrificing immediate rewards for something more long term and tarnishing his reputation in order to do so. The NHL's collective bargaining agreement forces young, talented players to do this if they want to control their fates.

Maybe Vesey saw what's happening with Jonathan Drouin and Tampa Bay… and Syracuse. Drouin was drafted 63 spots higher than Vesey and was never going to delay signing an entry-level deal with the Lightning, so there's no way he could have foreseen his misery and time in the AHL. But you can bet every dollar Drouin has earned that he'd give it all back to be somewhere else right now.

Once a drafted player puts his name on that first contract, he gives away all of his power. Vesey chose to hold on to his for a few months longer.

The NHL draft is a form of indentured servitude. In most cases, you are trapped in a three-year entry-level deal followed by four years of restricted free agency, a laughable term created by lawyers that somehow combines the words "restricted" and "free" when we all know the player is 99 percent restricted and 1 percent free.

How do players get around that? It's extremely difficult.

If you are a high pick, like Drouin, and your path to the NHL is seemingly open, there's no point in doing what Vesey has done. What's happening to Drouin may not happen again for decades, as it's extremely rare for a team with a top-three pick to draft a player, then instantly become so deep at that player's position that there is no room for him when he's an NHL talent.

But if you are in the same boat as Vesey or even Johnny Gaudreau—who did not go this route with the Calgary Flames—and you are drafted at 18 and plan to spend the next four years at college, this is how you choose your life if you develop into an elite talent.

Almost everyone in Vesey's position would have signed with the Predators without thinking twice.

That's why it's hard for me—as someone with no vested interest in the Predators' success—to get mad at Vesey, as he's throwing away immediate money and maybe even a run at a Stanley Cup. It's not a greed-based choice, as he is putting off restricted and unrestricted free agency an extra year by doing this.

If the Flames miss the postseason for the next three years, do you think Gaudreau will have any regrets about signing right away instead of opting for patience and a potentially better home?

Don't like the draft? Well, it's not going anywhere. It would be great if we could allow sports adults to choose their place of residence and business at 18, as this current system has more negatives for players than positives. It's difficult enough to get anyone to come to Edmonton and Winnipeg in this current reality, so abolishing the draft—as unfair as it may be—would make it nearly impossible for teams like those to be competitive.

Maybe Poile is right and Vesey got some bad advice, especially if that advice was, "Sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs instead of the Nashville Predators because your dad works there as a scout and your younger brother is in their system." The only thing worse than the way teams control draftees for nearly a decade is this need for siblings to play together in the NHL.

Vesey decided his happiness wasn't worth the instant gratification. Whether that decision proves to be a smart one won't be known for years, but at least he can take comfort in the fact it was his decision.