The Philadelphia Flyers signed the 27-year-old centerman after acquiring his rights from the Winnipeg Jets.
After TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported that the Philadelphia Flyers inked forward Kevin Hayes to a seven-year, 50 million dollar contract on Tuesday night, the team officially announced the signing on Wednesday afternoon. Hayes seemed eager to get started in the City of Brotherly Love, stating during a conference call that the team was a “great fit” and that he wanted to go to a “great city and a team that can win.” The latter of those comments remains to be seen, but hey, at least the guy is optimistic bout to future. General Manager Chuck Fletcher revealed some details on the terms of Hayes’ contract to the media and some of the specific numbers were reportedly disclosed, as well. It’s also worth noting that Hayes will wear number 13 after switching to 12 when he was dealt to Winnipeg.
Fletcher confirmed that Hayes will have a full No-Movement Clause (NMC) in the first three years of his deal. This means that the Flyers cannot trade Hayes or send him to the minors without his approval. I wasn’t surprised by this as any high-profile free agent wants some sort of security on their living situation when signing a lengthy contract. It’ll also mean that Philadelphia won’t be able to expose Hayes to Seattle in the expansion draft without his consent, too. Once those three years are up, the five-year NHL veteran will have a 12-team no-trade list for the following four. The names of those teams have not been revealed.
As far as how the contract was structured, Sportsnet Insider Chris Johnson gave a glimpse into what it looks like. The first year has a four million dollar salary with a five million dollar (5M) signing bonus (SB), the second and fourth years have a 3.75M base salary with the same amount as an SB. The third has a 9M with no SB, the fifth has a 6.5M with no bonus either, and the final two years have a 4M base with a 1.25 SB. I don’t entirely mind the structure of this deal as it’s more front-loaded, but we’ll have to see if it impacts a contract for any future Restricted Free Agents.
Get ready to see Hayes in a Philadelphia uniform for a long time, Flyers fans. It sure seems like he won’t be going anywhere for a large sum of time.