The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired center Kevin Hayes and St. Louis’ 2025 second-round pick, per Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff (Twitter link). Pittsburgh is sending future considerations the other way. No salary was retained, though Hayes’ cap hit is just $3.571MM, with Philadelphia retaining 50 percent of his original $7.143MM cap hit when they traded him to St. Louis.
The Blues quickly flip Hayes to the other side of Pennsylvania, just one year after they acquired him from the Flyers in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick. Hayes posted 13 goals and 29 points in 79 games with the Blues – a far cry from the career-high 54 points he managed in his final year with the Flyers. He was tasked as being St. Louis’ reliable, two-way forward on the second line, succeeding Ryan O’Reilly, and while Hayes did well at shutting play down in the middle of the ice – his pace wasn’t enough to inspire much.
But while he didn’t fill the right need in St. Louis, he could be exactly what Pittsburgh needs – offering predictable and reliable impact down the lineup at a relatively cheap cost. The Penguins are facing a cap crunch this summer, with three pending free agents, $7.174MM in cap space, and superstar Sidney Crosby eligible for an extension on July 1st. Hayes could assume the third-line center role behind Evgeni Malkin, making Lars Eller a bit more expendable should Pittsburgh be looking for other cap dumps.
lacking other details, this is a headscratcher
Who are they going to get to replace his 30 points on the bottom 6 making what he makes? Unless this is a precursor to another move I’m confused.
I was looking at it from the Penguins point of view-
Philly is paying most of his contract, this is a decent move for pittsburgh
Prepping for a loaded FA
I guess he is younger than Jeff Carter, not sure how else this fits in to the plan of getting younger though.
Was just thinking that he’d take his role. Far younger than him which is a plus. C+ trade I say
Hayes was used in more of a defensive posture last year. He didn’t play poorly, but he’s really just a space filler at this point. He’s been through a lot off the ice, you wonder how much he really wants to play any more. If you put an egg under his shoulder pads, at the end of the game you’d have an uncracked egg, he is completely unengaged physically.
So they get Hayes and a 2nd for future considerations?
Not thrilled with 3.5 being spent on Hayes. Another guy on the opposite side of 30. Think that could space could have been used more wisely.
@TJECK109 — I think I heard some familiar screams coming PIT — “Dubas!!!”
Dubas is so weird.
Decent pickup for the Penguins. Basically zero risk. The Penguins essentially took on Hayes in order to get the second round pick, and Hayes is an upgrade over Acciari as a bottom six center.
Upgraded the team at no cost, and also acquired a pick. If he bounces back to a 50+ point player this will be a steal. If he has another 30ish point season in a defensive role as 3C, his salary still fits at only 3.5 per year. He also pushes Eller down to 4C, which makes the Penguins deeper down the middle. Seems like it makes sense for all involved.
Penguins: “We have a impending cap crisis.”
Also Penguins: “Let’s trade futures for overpayment contracts. :)”
Penguins don’t have a cap crisis. What are you talking about?
They still have cap room and they’re probably going to unload Smith and his $5 million price tag. So they’ll have more room to add a top 6 forward.
Most likely Jarry as well