Peter Laviolette issues a statement regarding Jimmy Vesey's performance during his season debut

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Hunter Bowman
November 4, 2024 (3:05 PM)

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New York Ranger veteran forward issues an unexpected statement after making his 2024-25 season debut.

After veteran forward Jimmy Vesey missed the first 10 games of the 2024-25 season, he finally returned to the Rangers lineup on Sunday for a dominant 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders. The first time the Rangers were completely health this season.

Vesey was placed on Long-Term Injured Reserve(LTIR) after sustaining a lower body injury during a training camp practice. Along with defenseman Ryan Lindgren who miss five games due to a jaw injury from the preseason.

«Unfortunately, I missed some of training camp, so trying to get my legs here on the fly, but that was a good start and hope I can build off it,» Vesey said after his season debut Sunday.

Vesey joined the fourth line with Sam Carrick playing centre and Adam Edstrom on Left Wing, where he managed to complete 10 shifts and totaled 8:28 in ice time. With the 31-year old forward slowly getting back into action, Laviolette decided it was best to not play him on the penalty kill.

Despite the limited ice time, head coach Peter Laviolette was happy with the overall performance from Vesey and his linemates.

«He was really good. Just my eyeballing him, watching them play, they got it (the puck) out, they got it into the offensive zone, they generated chances. I thought they were really good, all three of them,» Laviolette explained postgame. «It was really good to have Jimmy back in there, and he jumped in there and really complemented that line.»

Since Vesey joined the New York Rangers back for 2022-23 season, he has managed to appear in 162 games for the organization and has been valuable member since then, as he tallied 24 goals and 27 assists for total of 51 points.

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