Phillip Miller
The St. Louis Blues kick off the 2023 offseason with a trade (albeit lighter than what we almost got) that will see veteran center Kevin Hayes and in a Blues uniform while St. Louis sends a 2024 6th-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The league was abuzz with speculation this weekend, none bigger seemingly than a trade sending Travis Sanheim, Kevin Hayes, Torey Krug, a first-round pick, and more to new squads. Those rumors, however, did not last long as it sounded like Krug exercised his contractual No-Trade Clause to stay with the Blues. A few days later, a different deal resurfaced, with 31-year-old Kevin Hayes coming to St. Louis after all on a retained salary, as confirmed by Kevin Weekes and Jeremy Rutherford.
After an unimpressive 2022 campaign saw the Blues missing the playoffs and saying farewell to captain Ryan O’Reilly and longtime Blue Vladimir Tarasenko, it was clear Doug Armstrong needed to retool the team in a big way. It’s not the splashiest of changes, but Hayes, 31, has nine years of NHL time under his belt as a two-way center, mostly with the Rangers and Flyers. Hayes had 18 goals and 54 points last season on a Flyers squad mired in ownership changes and one of the worst goals-for offenses in the league. Kevin Hayes comes onto the Blues with half his salary retained, a cap hit of $3.57 million until 2026.
Kevin Hayes, acquired by STL, is a playmaking middle six centre. #STLBlues pic.twitter.com/IRtceOjimC
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 27, 2023
Reacting to this move to get Hayes: It goes without saying his original contract is richer than a Hershey chocolate bar, and it makes sense to move Hayes as the Flyers try to rebuild under Briere’s new regime. However, with 50% salary retention… suddenly Hayes’ contract becomes much more attractive. This would make you think that this is Doug Armstrong’s guy, and he would be paying up much more for a retained contract, and yet… a 6th. Next year. Now this deal seems paltry compared to the Sanheim/Hayes/Krug blockbuster we were almost treated to. Having a bonafide, established player to replace the O’Reilly/Barbashev void down the middle is certainly better than nothing, and swapping him for a low, low pick in next year’s draft feels like low-risk. As for rebuilding Philly, the cap is clearly king for the franchise the next couple of seasons.
Should Hayes become the worst-case scenario in St. Louis, the Blues can opt to buy him out, which at worst would cost 2.37 million eaten on the books, not the worst scenario in the world. The likelihood of that happening seems relatively low, however: a new system on a team wanting to contend and only getting younger could be exactly the medicine a veteran Hayes needs to kickstart the second half of his career; and at a bargain-bin cost, be on the lookout for more moves in St. Louis. And don’t forget: Doug Armstrong still has three first-round draft picks tomorrow.