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Kevin Hayes

Philadelphia Flyers Willing To Take On Salary

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Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period is reporting that the Philadelphia Flyers are prepared to weaponize their cap space to acquire additional assets. The Flyers begin today with less than $1MM in salary cap space, a number that would translate to roughly $3.9MM at the NHL trade deadline. Now that number might not seem significant, but the Flyers can easily free up over $6MM by placing defenseman Ryan Ellis on LTIR, something they’ve been hesitant to do thus far, but are willing to do to make a trade work.

After years of being slammed up against the salary cap, the Flyers have finally created roster and salary cap flexibility after a summer in which they moved on from veterans Kevin Hayes, Tony DeAngelo, and Ivan Provorov. General Manager Daniel Briere seems fully committed to rebuilding the Flyers and appears willing to take on undesirable contracts in exchange for future assets.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported just two weeks ago that the Flyers were open to taking on Ottawa Senators forward Mathieu Joseph and his $2.95MM cap hit in exchange for a high prospect or a first-round pick, something Ottawa appears uninterested in entertaining. However that could change if they start the season slow without their second and third-line centres.

While a Joseph deal hasn’t materialized the Flyers will likely have their pick of suitors as the flat cap has created a financial landscape in which 19 NHL teams are within $1MM of the salary cap ceiling (including Philadelphia). There are a lot of teams that see themselves as Stanley Cup contenders who will be hard-pressed to make in-season improvements unless they can move out some salary, this is where the Flyers cap space could be leveraged to acquire assets.

The Flyers are early in their rebuild and are at least three or four years away from turning the corner. With that in mind, any contract they take on will probably fall into the one to three-year range similar to the contract they acquired with Cal Petersen. Philadelphia has several of their own undesirable contracts as well as over $5MM in dead cap space for the next few seasons in the DeAngelo buyout and the retained salary on Hayes.

St. Louis Blues Acquire Kevin Hayes

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The wait is over, and it’s a bit of a letdown. The long-winded trade between the Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues is complete, and center Kevin Hayes will be heading to the Blues for a 2024 sixth-round pick, the teams announced.

Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports the Flyers, as expected, will be retaining half of Hayes’ salary for the life of his contract. For the next three seasons, both the Flyers and Blues will be on the hook for $3.57MM in cap space for Hayes.

Fans of both teams were expecting a much larger deal to come through, but with Blues defenseman Torey Krug reportedly opting not to waive his no-trade clause, the additional pieces in the trade, expected to be Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim and one of St. Louis’ late first-round picks in this week’s draft, were removed.

While most would agree Hayes was overpaid on his deal, earning him more than $7MM, a 50 percent discount is an extremely appealing acquisition for the retooling Blues. He’s still a capable middle-six center, and his acquisition will alleviate Pavel Buchnevich, allowing him to return to his natural spot on the wing after shifting to center at the end of 2022-23.

St. Louis will be Hayes’ fourth team in his nine-year, 634-game NHL career. He’s had consistent offensive production throughout his career, routinely scoring between 40 and 55 points (at least in full seasons), but he was given far too lofty expectations when he signed in Philadelphia.

The messaging is clear here from the Flyers’ side: a rebuild is here, and it’s massive. Opting to retain a decent chunk of change on Hayes for three seasons – with essentially no compensation – signals they don’t anticipate spending to the cap ceiling anytime soon.

While moving on from Hayes doesn’t free up cap space that the Flyers need to use, it does free up some needed roster spots down the middle of the ice. Both Morgan Frost and Noah Cates are in line for more ice time after strong campaigns in 2022-23, and with Sean Couturier slated to return to play next season, Hayes could have pushed one (or both) of Cates and Frost into a bottom-six role.

Hayes’ 54 points in 81 games last season would have ranked fifth on the Blues. He’ll likely slot into a third-line center spot there behind Robert Thomas and Brayden Schenn, although he could overtake Schenn on the depth chart if things go well.

ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was first to report the trade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Poll: What Has Been The Most Impactful Pre-Draft Trade?

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The 2023 NHL Draft is now only three days away, and there has already been a flurry of activity in the NHL trade market. Yesterday, we saw the Colorado Avalanche acquire Ryan Johansen from the Nashville Predators, and the Arizona Coyotes acquire Sean Durzi from the Los Angeles Kings. Following up on those deals, there is heavy expectation that the St. Louis Blues will acquire Kevin Hayes from the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Carolina Hurricanes will add back Anthony DeAngelo to their lineup. If yesterday didn’t bring enough action, it’s also expected that the Kings are close to acquiring Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Winnipeg Jets.

After losing Nazem Kadri to the Calgary Flames last offseason, the Avalanche had a very difficult time replacing the void left by Kadri on the team’s second forward line. Throughout this past season, Colorado originally tried to patrol Alex Newhook in that role, but after failing to live up to expectations, J.T. Compher was thrust into that role. Compher did excel, scoring 17 goals and 35 assists this season, the best statistical performance of his career. Unfortunately for the Avalanche, Compher is set to enter unrestricted free agency, and Colorado may not have the cap space to retain him.

By acquiring Johansen from the Predators, the Avalanche clearly wanted to make an outside move to complete their second line. This past season, Johansen did not play particularly well, scoring 12 goals and 16 assists in 55 games, having his season ended by a foot injury in February. However, the year prior, Johansen was a proficient offensive player in Nashville, scoring 26 goals and 37 assists.

Sticking in the Central Division, the expected acquisition of Hayes for the Blues should fill the void left behind by Ryan O’Reilly last season. Hayes has very much had an up-and-down career, having much of his time spent in Philadelphia hampered by injuries. This past season, he did have the best offensive output so far with the Flyers, scoring 18 goals and 36 assists in 81 games. It was well known that Hayes and head coach John Tortorella sparred quite consistently, and it was becoming more and more clear that his time in Philadelphia would be coming to an end.

In Los Angeles, the Kings’ trade of Durzi largely indicated that the team was trying to move out money to acquire better talent. In Durzi, Los Angeles largely had a defenseman that was exceptional at moving the puck but was not as responsible on the defensive side of the game. He did score 38 points last year for the Kings, but the underlying defensive metrics were not positive. Opening up $1.7MM with that trade, it has now been reported that the Kings are expected to acquire Dubois, as well as sign him to an extension. Not only will this move allow the Kings to strengthen their second line, but by being able to move Phillip Danault to the third-line center position, Los Angeles may be one of the deepest teams in the Western Conference.

Lastly, the Hurricanes are bringing back a familiar face, as reports indicate that Carolina and Philadelphia are working on a trade. Last offseason, the Hurricanes felt that DeAngelo’s asking price on his next contract was too rich for their blood, and moved him to the Flyers for three draft picks. By acquiring DeAngelo, Carolina now has four defensemen set to hit unrestricted free agency next season, even though it does strengthen their blue line for next year.

After all the moves up to this point, which player do you think will have the biggest impact on their next team?

Flyers, Blues Working On Kevin Hayes Trade

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06/25/23 11:10 am: Di Marco has added to Friedman’s report that Krug is planning on staying put in St. Louis. He tweeted that Hayes could be the lone player headed to St. Louis in a re-worked trade, in a deal similar to the Ryan Johansen trade from yesterday.

Di Marco said that the Flyers “expect a lot back if this is the case,” meaning what once looked to be a larger deal with major pieces changing hands and potentially netting the Flyers another first-round pick could now be a more straightforward transaction.

06/25/23 9:30 am: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has reported that Krug “is leaning towards not waiving his no-trade clause.” Since Krug has a full no-trade clause on his contract, he not only has the right to veto any deal that would land him in Philadelphia, but any trade in general.

Based on Friedman’s report, it seems Krug is leaning towards using his no-trade rights to guarantee an outcome where he remains in St. Louis. It’s a development that has the potential to markedly change the complexion of this Hayes trade, or maybe even cause the deal to fall apart completely.

06/24/23 9:05 pm: The main writer for the St. Louis Blues on The Athletic, Jeremy Rutherford, released some definitive details on the trade. Although nothing is set in stone as of right now, in his article in The Athletic, he confirms that both Hayes and Sanheim will be headed to St. Louis, while Torey Krug and one of the Blues’ first-round picks in this year’s draft will head to Philadelphia. However, because of the no-trade clause in his contract, Krug will not be wearing a Flyers sweater next season. This would be the major hurdle in the trade, as the Flyers’ are looking for a third team to facilitate another trade for Krug.

06/24/23 6:52 pm: TVA’s Renaud Lavoie adds Marco Scandella is not the Blues party holding up the deal – he does not have full trade protection, and the Flyers are not on his no-trade list.

06/24/23 6:19 pm: Multiple reports suggest a Blues player has not waived a no-trade or no-move clause, holding up the trade going through. Rutherford reports this player is NOT Colton Parayko or Nick Leddy. The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor reports that Flyers defender Travis Sanheim could be heading to St. Louis along with Hayes, but the moving parts in the deal are far from finalized.

06/24/23 4:10 pm: The Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues are finalizing a trade revolving around center Kevin Hayes, according to reports from The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford and The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco.

Both DiMarco’s and Rutherford’s reports indicate this is set to be quite a complex trade with multiple moving parts. The Flyers were reportedly looking to add a third first-round selection in this year’s draft, while the Blues were looking to trade one of their two first-round picks later in the draft (25th or 29th overall).

Hayes was one of many Flyers involved in rampant trade speculation in recent weeks, although he’d mostly been connected to the Columbus Blue Jackets going back to last year. Those talks, which continued into this offseason, reportedly fell off last week.

Now 31 years old, Hayes was still among the Flyers’ highest-scoring players during a tough year offensively for the team. His 18 goals, 36 assists, and 54 points were actually his best point-producing pace since signing a seven-year, $50MM contract with Philadelphia in free agency in 2019. Those 36 assists led the team, and his 54 points were good enough for second on the team behind Travis Konecny, who was the only point-per-game Flyer this season.

Hayes still has three years remaining on that contract, which pays him $7.143MM per season. It’s a very steep cap hit for a player with defensive deficiencies who’s only a safe bet for 45-60 points in a full season, which would lead to questions about salary retention. The Blues have some steep contracts paid out to their defenseman, though, which could soften the blow if they’re able to move one of them to the Flyers in this deal – which is poised to include multiple NHL roster players in both directions.

This page will be updated as details of the return are reported.

West Notes: Hayes Trade, Kings, Jets

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As the hockey world continues to wait on the second-big center trade of the day, one that is expected to see Kevin Hayes of the Philadelphia Flyers join the St. Louis Blues. Due to his cap hit of $7.14MM a year, there was always a guarantee that the Blues would likely have to send some money back. A complicated trade such as this one usually doesn’t take a couple of hours to complete, as it could go on for a couple of days, especially if a third team needs to get involved.

As of right now, there is no knowledge on what assortment of players, picks, or prospects will be headed back in either direction, but we do know a couple of players that will not be included in the deal on the Blues side of the action. Renaud Lavoie has already reported that St. Louis defenseman, Marco Scandella, is not the one holding up the trade, as the Flyers are not on his no-move list. Additionally, Lavoie notes that Colton Parayko and Nick Leddy have also not been asked to waive their no-trade clauses.

A few moments after the news from Lavoie, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reported that defenseman Justin Faulk has also not been asked to waive his no-trade clause as well. This news is important for a couple of reasons. With some deductive reasoning, these reports could reasonably be interpreted as the Blues are trying to send a defenseman to the Flyers, and there is only one more St. Louis defenseman that has a sizeable contract, that player being Torey Krug. It appears that if the Blues are indeed trying to send Krug the other way, the no-trade clause in his contract appears to be holding up the deal, which may cause Philadelphia to seek out a third team to facilitate the trade.

Other notes:

  • As the trade market starts to heat up in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Kings are fervently in the mix. David Pagnotta of TheFourthPeriod reports that not only have the Kings engaged in multiple discussions to acquire a top-six forward, but they would love to get a trade made before the draft. The Kings and Montreal Canadiens have been the two teams most heavily linked to Pierre-Luc Dubois this summer, and he would be an acquisition that would undoubtedly improve Los Angeles’ forward group. Aside from Dubois, it is unknown who else the Kings would be targeting, but they are letting most teams know what they are looking for.
  • Continuing on with the Dubois speculation, Frank Seravalli of the DailyFaceoff notes that the Kings and Winnipeg Jets are indeed engaged in conversations, but nothing seems imminent on the trade front. Los Angeles did create some room to add in their earlier trade of Sean Durzi to the Arizona Coyotes, but the reasoning behind a trade not being close may not entirely be their fault. Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck, Blake Wheeler, and Dubois have all seen their names in the rumor mill this summer, and the Jets likely have plenty of teams calling for their services.

Snapshots: Winnipeg, Hayes, Sharangovich

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The WHL’s Winnipeg Ice are on the move again after spending just four years in the city, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports Friday. After moving from Cranbrook in the Kootenay region of British Columbia in 2019, a condition of the sale to new owners in Winnipeg was a new facility for the team. The condition was never met, and now the team has been sold to former 2017 BCHL executive of the year David White, who will move them to Wenatchee, Washington, a town with a population of about 35,000 people in the center of the state. For now, it seems the new Wenatchee WHL squad will share the ice with White’s BCHL team, the Wenatchee Wild, at the Town Toyota Center with a capacity of 4,300 people.

Winnipeg lost in this year’s WHL championship series and boasts an eye-popping record of 110-20-6 over the past two seasons combined. The franchise’s debut season in Wenatchee could include Buffalo Sabres prospect Matthew Savoie and Arizona Coyotes prospect Conor Geekie, both first-round picks in the 2022 NHL Draft.

Other notes from around the hockey world today:

  • On today’s episode of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman dumped some cold water on the rumors of a Kevin Hayes trade between the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets. After the two teams were involved in a three-way deal that saw Ivan Provorov head from the Flyers to the Jackets, reports said the move didn’t eliminate the possibility of the long-rumored Hayes deal coming to fruition. However, the Blue Jackets now have under $6MM in projected cap space for 2023-24 (CapFriendly) after getting defender Damon Severson from the New Jersey Devils in a sign-and-trade, which would force the Flyers to retain a high amount of Hayes’ $7.14MM cap hit through 2025-26. While Columbus remains in desperate need of centers, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen now has seven defensemen on the roster that cost more than $2MM against the cap, including a combined $6.75MM wrapped up in Erik Gudbranson and Andrew Peeke, who both had very disappointing campaigns last season.
  • Another name mentioned by Friedman was that of New Jersey Devils forward Yegor Sharangovich, who Friedman believes could hit the trade market this offseason. The 25-year-old Belarusian is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights after completing a two-year, $4MM contract signed in August of 2021 and has registered at least 30 points in all three of his NHL campaigns. He is a decent depth scorer, but he’s not of much value defensively and posted the lowest point-per-game output of his NHL career (0.40) last season. He was a healthy scratch for most of New Jersey’s playoff run, appearing in three out of 12 games.

Latest On Carter Hart, Kevin Hayes

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The Philadelphia Flyers (and rookie general manager Daniel Brière) made their first big splash of the offseason earlier this week. Naturally, though, after acquiring a fourth goalie with decent NHL experience in Calvin Petersen, questions began to resurface about the future of budding star netminder Carter Hart with the team.

Within minutes of Tuesday’s trade being reported, reports from various insiders surfaced the Flyers were at least engaged in discussions with teams about moving Hart, although it wasn’t something as imminent as the Ivan Provorov deal, which was officially announced hours later. Today, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on The Jeff Marek Show that progress toward a Hart trade hasn’t advanced, saying a source told him to “dial back on the [rumors]” and that moving Hart wasn’t Philadelphia’s current top priority.

The Fourth Period today seemed a little more optimistic about the eventuality of a Hart deal, but again noted nothing was imminent on that front. However, they did specifically name the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens as teams believed to have interest in acquiring the 24-year-old.

Both teams got strong goaltending performances this season from Ilya Samsonov and Sam Montembeault, respectively, but neither of them is regarded as the sure-fire long-term starter Hart is. While a poor bubble season in 2020-21 drags Hart’s career numbers down considerably, he’s been admirable in a tough position for Philadelphia in other seasons and sat among the top of the league in multiple stats during the first few months of 2022-23.

The Fourth Period also mentioned in today’s report that the lines of communication aren’t quite closed between the Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets, especially regarding a long-time rumored deal involving Kevin Hayes. They noted the Provorov trade was of higher priority to both clubs, but the two parties are now “set to reengage” after completing the three-team deal.

The main negotiating factor in a Hayes trade is reportedly salary retention, suggesting a return package from Columbus might already be ironed out. Hayes, 31, finished second in scoring among Flyers players with 54 points in 81 games this season and provides a much-needed upgrade at center for Columbus, although his roughly $7.1MM cap hit is a tad rich for his skillset and career arc.

Metropolitan Notes: Flyers, Merzlikins, McCarthy

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Philadelphia Flyers players met with the media today as they cleared out their lockers following a disappointing season. Giana Han of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Kevin Hayes described the season as a weird one, and he sure sounds like he expects it to be his last in Philly. The 31-year-old center has three years remaining on his contract with a cap hit just above $7MM per season, but he believes the organization turned the page on him midseason. Hayes was leading the team in scoring early in the year and was named to the All-Star Game. However, his role was reduced following his All-Star appearance as younger players were given bigger roles with the team struggling. Hayes mentioned he believes he will learn his fate around the NHL Draft, implying he thinks a trade could be on the horizon.

Also in Philly, Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic reports winger James van Riemsdyk was disappointed he did not get traded at the deadline, as he was left to play out the final year of his contract on a rebuilding Flyers roster. Then-General Manager Chuck Fletcher stated shortly after the trade deadline that there was no interest at all in JVR, but the Flyers skater seems to believe that is not entirely true and was frustrated that the team would not send him to a contending team, even for a small return in a trade.

  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports goaltender Elvis Merzlikins of the Columbus Blue Jackets will not play in the upcoming World Championships. This is of note since one of the host cities, Riga, Latvia is also the hometown of Merzlikins. The 29-year-old goaltender claims his focus remains completely on becoming a number one goaltender in the NHL, something he fell well short of this season. He posted a 4.23 GAA and a .876 SV% in 30 games for the Blue Jackets. That is a far cry from what his contract dictates he should be doing. Merzlikins has four more years remaining on a contract that carries a $5.4MM cap hit.
  • Mark Divver of NHL.com reports Boston University may be keeping one of its key defensemen for another season. Case McCarthy, a fourth-round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2019 has already played four seasons at BU but is leaning toward returning for one more. He played a top-four role this season, skating alongside freshman phenom Lane Hutson on most nights and providing a two-way role for BU. He had 15 points in 35 games and would step right back into that top pairing role with Hutson if he returns next season.

Flyers, Blue Jackets Discussed Hayes Trade

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Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek were on Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast (20:00 mark) and had some interesting tidbits about deals that did not happen. One of them was the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets briefly talked about Kevin Hayes.

Hayes is a 30-year-old center who has three more years left on his contact with a cap hit just north of $7MM. Though he is having a productive season with 49 points in 61 games played, he drew the ire of head coach John Tortorella earlier this season and was made a healthy scratch. With the Flyers struggling in the standings, they may be eager to move out some cap space, leading to the Hayes talks.

Marek said the two teams did engage in “soft talks” and he would not be surprised if this was something both sides revisited in the offseason. Friedman also mentioned that he could see negotiations ramping up once again at the NHL Draft.

The Blue Jackets opened up plenty of cap space for next season when they traded Jakub Voracek to the Arizona Coyotes. Voracek and sixth-round pick were swapped for goaltender Jon Gillies which gives the Blue Jackets $8.25MM more cap space in 2023-24. That is more than enough to bring in Hayes.

Hayes would also fit well alongside Johnny Gaudreau. The pair played three seasons together at Boston College, culminating in a Hobey Baker Award for Gaudreau when he scored 80 points in 40 games in 2013-14. Hayes had 27 goals and 65 points in 40 games that season. Gaudreau is in the first year of a seven-year contract with an annual $9.75MM cap hit. He has 15 goals and 55 points in 60 games, but the Blue Jackets sit at the bottom of the NHL standings.

These talks were only preliminary, but it would be interesting to see Hayes and Gaudreau reunited at the NHL level. Definitely something worth keeping an eye on in the offseason.

Flyers Notes: Van Riemsdyk, Couturier, Hayes, Injuries

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Winger James van Riemsdyk is one of the more prominent names left on the board heading into the trade deadline.  However, with a cap hit of $7MM, not many teams can get involved in the bidding, at least without the possibility of double retention.  To that end, Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets and TSN reports (Twitter link) that the current asking price for the 33-year-old is a third-round pick.

Johnston adds that the Golden Knights, Jets, and Kraken are among the teams that have inquired about van Riemsdyk so far.  Notably, none of those teams have enough cap space to take on his contract outright while Vegas would need either a third team to get involved to be able to add him.  The veteran has nine goals and 14 assists in 41 games this season and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

More from Philadelphia:

  • Center Sean Couturier skated before practice today as he works his way back from his back injury, relays Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). The veteran has yet to play this season but GM Chuck Fletcher acknowledged last month that there was a possibility Couturier could return before the end of the season.  At this point, the goal of a return would simply be to try to remove any questions about the possibility of the injury lingering into 2023-24.
  • The Flyers are open to offers for center Kevin Hayes, reports Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now. The veteran is having a nice season with 17 goals and 32 assists in 61 games which would be appealing to many buyers.  However, his cap hit of $7.143MM through 2025-26 will make the 30-year-old difficult to move without considerable salary retention.  A trade involving Hayes is likely easier to make in the summer when other teams will be more willing to move a roster player back to help match salary.
  • Philadelphia has activated wingers Zack MacEwen and Tanner Laczynski from IR, notes Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic (Twitter link).  MacEwen has missed more than a month after undergoing surgery on his fractured jaw while Laczynski has missed the last three months with a lower-body injury.  If the Flyers wind up moving out some forwards today, MacEwen and Laczynski should be their replacements in the lineup, meaning no recalls would be needed from AHL Lehigh Valley.

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