According to reports from Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer and later Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Kevin Hayes will be undergoing sports hernia surgery sometime in the next week. Hayes spoke briefly about needing a minor surgery during the Flyers exit interviews, but did not go into details about said injury.
The procedure allows for athletes to return to action after about six weeks. So there will be plenty of time for Hayes to heal up before next season. And it may explain some of the reason that he did not appear to have some of the same jump he showed during his first season in Philadelphia.
Hayes finished with 12 goals and 31 points in 55 games during his second season with the Flyers. He was fifth and seventh respectively among his teammates in those categories. That was after he was on pace for a breakout season in 2019-20. He was two goals away from a career-high, totaling 23 in 69 games before the season ended prematurely.
That came off the heels of a career-high 55 point season between the Rangers and the Jets. So things were looking like they were taking off for Hayes who was seven seasons into his career coming into this year. But things didn’t go as planned, not for Hayes or for the Flyers. A promising start to the season all came to a crashing halt in the final months of the year.
While it’s fair to say that the impending surgery played a role in some of Hayes’ struggles, he didn’t want to put all the blame on that.
"“It’s easy to say that the injury was the reason. But no, I just think that it was kind of a mix of everything. The type of season the team had, the type of season the league had, a bunch of different factors. I felt like my first year in Philly was amazing, it was a great start to my career here. And this year was kind of a little hiccup, not the way I wanted it to go obviously."
Hayes went on to say that he’s going to take the team he needs to feel better and then get ready for next season. He will continue to try and play a big role for the Flyers next season as he hits the third year of a seven year contract he signed in the summer of 2019.
The Flyers will be hoping to see more of the player they got in his first year in Philadelphia. He was a big reason the team finished where they did. Using his size to shield other players away from the puck was a big key to his game. His long reach to force turnovers also wasn’t as evident.
So the combination of the injury and poor play from throughout the lineup were evident in Hayes’ down season. Now it’s time to head home for a bit and get back at it for next season.