NHL notes: Sabres trade for rights to prospect Jimmy Vesey

Sabres general manager Tim Murray acknowledged he took a calculated risk in acquiring the rights to prospect forward Jimmy Vesey on Monday.

Now the challenge is to sign college hockey's Hobey Baker Award winner before Vesey is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 15.

"I don't consider it to be a bold move," Murray told The Associated Press shortly after trading the second of Buffalo's four third-round picks to acquire Vesey from the Nashville Predators. "It's a gamble."

Vesey is a play-making forward who completed his senior year at Harvard last season. The 22-year-old opted to become a free agent rather than sign with Nashville, which selected him in the third round of the 2012 draft.

Buffalo now has exclusive negotiating rights to sign Vesey before he becomes a free agent.

At 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds, Vesey led the ECAC with 46 points (24 goals, 22 assists) in 33 games last season. Overall, he has 80 goals and 64 assists in 128 games at Harvard.

Florida trades for Keith Yandle's rights

The New York Rangers have traded the rights to veteran defenceman Keith Yandle to Florida for the Panthers' sixth-round pick in Friday's NHL draft.

The Rangers said Monday they would also receive a fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft if Yandle signs with the Panthers. The 29-year-old Yandle's contract expires on July 1. He made $5.25 million this season.

New York acquired Yandle in March 2015 from Arizona along with another defenceman, Chris Summers, and a fourth-round selection. They gave up top prospect Anthony Duclair and a conditional first-round draft pick. Yandle had 58 points (seven goals, 51 assists) in 103 games with the Rangers over parts of two seasons.

Yandle spent nearly nine seasons with the Coyotes before the trade to New York.