Today Jeff Gorton scratched off another big task from his summer checklist by re-signing forward Jimmy Vesey to a two-year deal with an AAV of $2.275 million.

Rangers have reached agreement with Vesey on two-year deal worth $2.275M AAV (2.2/2.35). — Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) July 17, 2018

Vesey, 25, scored 17 goals in his sophomore NHL season after scoring 16 goals as a rookie in 2016-17. Thus far the former Harvard Crimson standout has yet to show any real signs that he can be a top-six player. At the moment Vesey is a big depth scoring winger who knows how to bang home goals around the net. In other words, a bridge deal makes a lot of sense for him given his age, production, and potential.

Matt Cane’s free agency prediction model had Vesey most likely to sign a bridge deal with an AAV of $1,684,815. Did the Rangers overpay? Maybe a little bit. Does it really matter? Not at all. We also know it’s easier for agents and general managers to talk about goal totals than it is to agree on a dollar value for the ability to create goals and scoring chances. Vesey can score goals, but there’s not a lot of evidence that he is great at creating them. If nothing else, he’s a perfectly fine option as a bottom-six winger for the next two years.

Per CapFriendly.com, Vesey will be a UFA at the end of this contract.

The only RFAs the Rangers have to deal with now are Ryan Spooner, Brady Skjei, and Kevin Hayes. It goes without saying that there is a lot of attention on what Hayes’ deal will look like, especially after the contract that Adam Henrique signed with the Ducks.