NEWARK, N.J. — Hockey fans in Nashville could be singing very sad country songs if Jimmy Vesey declines to sign with the Predators, who drafted him in the third round (No. 66 overall) in 2012.

Vesey just wrapped up his college career at Harvard and exercised his right under the collective bargaining agreement to become an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 15.

If Vesey reaches free agency it would be a crushing loss for the Predators, and maybe fantastic good fortune for the Bruins.

According to an extremely well-placed source within the Boston-area college hockey community, the forward will opt for free agency and sign with the B’s.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound North Reading native is widely regarded as a can’t-miss, NHL-ready prospect. The last two seasons, especially, the speedy left-shot center/left winger emerged as an NCAA star and posted 56 goals, 48 assists and a plus-33 in 70 games for the Crimson. In four college seasons, he put up 80-64-144 totals in 128 games. Also of note: He’s an excellent student who will graduate with his class in May.

His father, Jim Vesey, was a Merrimack College star who saw brief NHL time with the Bruins (four games in 1991-92) and the St. Louis Blues (11 from 1988-90).

The Predators tried to sign Vesey before this season, but he wanted to finish school. Nashville’s efforts will continue.

Middle of things

Bruins fans have seen Loui Eriksson play both wings, but last night they had the chance to watch him try his luck at center in the 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils. With Ryan Spooner back in Boston with an undisclosed injury, coach Claude Julien didn’t move up youngster Noel Acciari from the fourth line to the third, so he handed the center’s two-way responsibilities to Eriksson.

“He’s played there before and he’s a smart enough player that he can certainly manage that,” Julien said. “It’s not like we’re throwing him into a position he’s never played. He’s really good down low in our own end. He’s actually been pretty good on faceoffs (winning 4-of-6 in the loss).

“It’s an experienced guy down the middle. We know how important that is and we thought Loui could do the job. Hopefully, it’s short term.” . . .

The local fans groaned late in the second period when defenseman Adam McQuaid and Devils blueliner Seth Helgeson, a pair of legitimate heavyweights, dropped the gloves and squared off, only to have the linesmen step in and stop the fight before it started. . . .

Defenseman John-Michael Liles missed a second straight game with an apparent leg injury. . . .

For unknown reasons, Dennis Seidenberg played sparingly on defense in the third period.

Frank discussion

Julien commented on Frank Vatrano, who made an impressive return from Providence of the AHL with a goal and two assists in his first three games.

“He’s better than he was at the end (of his first NHL stint),” Julien said. “When we sent him down (Jan. 20) he had kind of hit a wall. He wasn’t doing much, not much was happening with him. So he went back and again started playing well; he looked more like the guy we had at the beginning. . . . He still shoots the puck as well as he did from the get-go. His speed and his shot are a great asset to our club.”

Welcome aboard

The Bruins agreed to terms on contracts with two top NCAA prospects in defenseman Rob O’Gara (Yale) and forward Sean Kuraly (Miami-Ohio). Both will join the Providence Bruins and play the rest of the AHL season with amateur tryout status.