Photo Credit: Zack Hill
What an offseason this turned out to be for the Flyers, and their proud faithful. On Monday June 3rd, 2019 at approximately 8:40 p.m. the Flyers traded for the rights of Center Kevin Hayes from the Winnipeg Jets for a 5th Round Pick. A little over two weeks later the orange and black signed Hayes to a 7 year-$50 million deal, worth an AAV of $7.14 million per season.
Hayes is a big bodied Center, as he stands at 6’5” weighs 220 pounds, and today is his 28th birthday. Happpppy Birthday Kevinnnnnn, “It’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to.”
He has provided much-needed size down the middle for the Flyers, and Hayes is also versatile. Hayes can play the wing and the Penalty Kill. He is a legit scoring threat on the PK, which has helped the Flyers immensely. Better yet, Hayes has done everything right, including scoring 23 goals on the season. He potted four short-handed goals on the season, before the season was halted to the Coronavirus, and his shorty in October was one of the best goals on the season:
His most important attribute for the orange and black was his familiarity with now Head Coach Alain Vigneault. In 2017-18, Hayes played under Vigneault for the New York Rangers, a year in which he tallied a career high in goals with 25. Moreover, Hayes and Vigneault developed a good relationship and one that rubbed off on the locker room. Hayes has helped with this group of Flyers to better understand Vigneault’s system. Fletcher tried to make this locker room less toxic, by putting his own stamp on the roster, and boy Hayes definitely had these Flyers riding high.
Hayes is also a very good Penalty Killer. He has helped tremendously in an area that has been an achilles heel for the Flyers for the past few seasons. Like previously mentioned he is also a scoring threat on the PK, and he has continued to mold this unit into a successful one. The Flyers currently own the 11th best Penalty Kill with a success rate of 81.8%.
The addition of Hayes was a missing glue piece that the Flyers have lacked for the past few seasons. For his efforts, the team is now a legit threat in the Metropolitan Division, and contenders for once. Fletcher gets an “A” for this addition.
Happy Birthday Kevin…Cheers
