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James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Age: 23

Drafted: Third round, 66th overall in 2012 by the Nashville Predators. Signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers on Aug. 19, 2016

2016-17 Stats: 14 GP, 6-4-10, plus-5

His Season So Far:

It's no slam dunk that a Hobey Baker winner will be able to carry his success from NCAA hockey to the NHL level.

Jack Eichel made an easy transition after winning the award in 2015, but he was an anomaly—a highly touted 18-year-old who was playing one year of college hockey because he was not yet eligible to be drafted. Johnny Gaudreau, who won the award in 2014, defied expectations with a successful transition to the NHL despite his 5'9", 157-pound frame.

In the years before Eichel and Gaudreau, the list of past winners the Hobey Baker website is not exactly rife with NHL success stories. Drew LeBlanc, the 2013 winner, logged two games with the Chicago Blackhawks and is now into his second season in Germany; Jack Connolly from 2012 has carved out a career in Sweden and Andy Miele, the 2011 winner, logged 15 games with the then-Phoenix Coyotes between 2011 and 2014 but is currently toiling in the AHL.

The moral of the story? Despite all of the offseason hype about where 2016 Hobey Baker winner Jimmy Vesey would decide to start his NHL career, there was no guarantee that he'd make the transition to his new team look as effortless as he has.

Vesey has been one of several offseason moves that have paid off in spades for a New York Rangers team that was severely limited by the salary cap when reworking its roster. He's contributing to the scoring-by-committee approach that has made the Rangers the most dangerous offensive team in the league in the early going. He has also become one of Alain Vigneault's go-to players on the power play.

The Rangers are aiming to reclaim their spot as one of the NHL's elite teams this season. That strong supporting cast—and playing in a high-profile media market—should help Vesey's Calder chances as the season rolls on.