Flyers Sign Center Kevin Hayes To 7-Year Contract
CBS Philadelphia – It’s finally over—will he or won’t he. Chuck Fletcher, general manager of the Flyers, now has an official second-line center. Center Kevin Hayes signed a seven-year contract deal with the Flyers on Wednesday, with an average yearly value of $7.14 million.
For the first three seasons of the contract, there is a complete no-movement provision; for the final four seasons, there is a 12-team no-trade list.
“My agent and I made a list at the end of the season, the Flyers were one of the teams that was a great fit,” Hayes stated. “We wanted to see a fantastic city with a winning team.
Hayes recently completed a great season in which he split 71 games between the Winnipeg Jets and New York Rangers, scoring 55 points.
Hayes, who has signed, is expected to start for the Flyers as their 2-C, behind Sean Couturier and in front of Nolan Patrick. It enables Claude Giroux to return to the left wing, where he feels most comfortable playing
this stage of his career, which relieves Patrick of some of the burden to succeed at the NHL level.
Flyers provide unconditional waivers to defenseman Andrew MacDonald in order to end their contract.
Hayes, according to Fletcher, “brings a solid 200-foot game” on June 10. “In this league, he has shown to be an excellent penalty taker. He plays the puck far from his body. He has hockey sense and is knowledgeable about the game. He is capable of making an attacking contribution. We need to improve as we conceded 281 goals the previous season.
“I believe that he is a man who knows our coach, and our coach knows him.” That will be beneficial. A learning curve is not necessary. He ought to take over with ease. There’s probably nothing else to say moreover, he supports us from both sides of the ice.”
While both were with the Rangers, the 27-year-old Hayes played for the Flyers for four seasons, from 2014 to 2018, under head coach Alain Vigneault. Under Vigneault, he scored a career-high 25 goals in 2017–18.
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Hayes is coming off a stellar season, but across his five-year career, he has averaged 18 goals and 45 points. The Flyers are hoping Hayes can repeat his previous season’s performance. Despite this, Hayes has had a successful career in the NHL. At 6-foot-5, he possesses enormous size and a fair skating ability for his size.
Hayes gives the Flyers depth at center, at the very least, something they lacked the previous campaign.
Hayes is set to don No. 13 with the Philadelphia Flyers.
On June 3, Fletcher obtained Hayes’s rights to negotiate from Winnipeg in return for a fifth-round selection. This permitted the Flyers to make a trade for the center before he became a free agent on July 1. It was successful.
Fletcher has completed his summer shopping list by signing Hayes, Justin Braun from the San Jose Sharks, and Matt Niskanen from the Washington Capitals. He achieved this by being assertive and eschewing free agency and draft night.
The summer of Fletcher is starting to take shape with a second-line center secured and two seasoned D-men who have a track record of playing significant minutes. To complement Carter Hart and manage its restricted free agents, namely Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, and Travis Sanheim, the Flyers still need to sign a backup goalkeeper.
“I think with the moves they’ve made this week shows the fans, team and organization that they want to win now,” Hayes stated. “That factored in my decision.”
The Flyers will have eight total selections this weekend in addition to the No. 11 pick on Friday in the NHL draft. It may be another hectic week for the orange and black as Fletcher is willing to move his first-round choice.
Pay attention. The Flyers could only be getting started.