The New York Rangers announced that Jimmy Vesey has been named this year’s winner of the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award, which is given annually to the top Rangers rookie in Training Camp as selected by the media.
Entering Thursday’s contest, Vesey, 23, has registered one goal and has recorded seven shots on goal in three preseason games this year. In addition, he has drawn five penalties in the three games he has played.
The 6-3, 207-pounder represented the Rangers at the 2016 Traverse City Tournament, registering five goals and two assists for seven points in four games. Vesey led all skaters in the tournament in goals and shots on goal (20), and he tied for first among all skaters in the tournament in points. Vesey’s five goals were tied for the most any player has registered in one year during the Traverse City Tournament since 2007, and his seven points were tied for the most any Ranger has posted in one year in the Traverse City Tournament.
Vesey, who was signed by the Rangers as a free agent on August 19, 2016, skated in 33 games with Harvard University last season, registering 24 goals and 22 assists for 46 points, along with a plus-11 rating and six penalty minutes. He won the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in collegiate hockey in 2015-16, becoming the fourth player in Harvard’s history to win the award. Vesey ranked fourth in the NCAA in goals per game (0.73), tied for seventh in goals, and ranked eighth in points per game (1.39) in 2015-16. Vesey recorded 56 goals over his final two seasons of collegiate hockey (2014-15 and 2015-16), leading the NCAA in goals over the span.
The Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award, which was first presented in 1988, honors the memory of Lars-Erik Sjoberg, who was the Rangers chief European scout for eight years. During his tenure with the Blueshirts, Sjoberg played a prominent role in the team’s decision to draft Europeans such as Tomas Sandstrom, Jan Erixon, and Ulf Dahlen. Prior to joining the Rangers as a scout, Sjoberg played five seasons with the Winnipeg Jets during their time in the World Hockey Association (WHA), and he also skated with Winnipeg in its inaugural NHL season in 1979-80.
LARS-ERIK SJOBERG AWARD WINNERS
1988 Mike Richter
1989 Troy Mallette
1990 Steven Rice
1991 Tony Amonte
1992 Peter Andersson
1993 Mattias Norstrom
1994 Mattias Norstrom
1995 Niklas Sundstrom
1996 Eric Cairns
1997 Marc Savard
1998 Manny Malhotra
1999 Kim Johnsson
2000 Filip Novak
2001 Dan Blackburn
2002 Jamie Lundmark
2003 Dominic Moore
2005 Henrik Lundqvist
2006 Nigel Dawes and Brandon Dubinsky
2007 Marc Staal
2008 Lauri Korpikoski
2009 Matt Gilroy
2010 Derek Stepan
2011 Carl Hagelin
2013 Jesper Fast
2014 Anthony Duclair
2015 Oscar Lindberg
2016 Jimmy Vesey
(Reprinted with permission of the New York Rangers)
