For all 32 teams across the National Hockey League, one player is nominated for the Bill Masterton Award each season. The Masterton Trophy is awarded to those that show perseverance and sportsmanship and is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
The New York Rangers nominee is Jimmy Vesey, the 29-year-old winger from Boston, Massachusetts. After being drafted by Nashville, then playing his first three seasons with the Rangers, Vesey returned to Broadway at the beginning of this season. On a Professional Tryout, he worked his way onto the team and onto a new two-year contract with the Blueshirts.
In 79 games this season, he has fit himself all around the lineup. From playing on the first line, all the way down to the fourth line, he has been a utility forward for the Rangers. He hit a new career-high in hits with 96 this season and has added 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points.
A quick personal story from me, my fiancée had a kidney transplant a few years ago, and we were regulars at the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Walk in New York City. The first year we walked, we heard from Vesey and former Captain of the Rangers, Brady Skjei, in 2018. It was really cool to see them there and to take time out of their busy schedules to talk to kidney recipients, donors, or family members awaiting the call on the organ donation list.
