Philadelphia Flyers: 5 Trade Ideas for Kevin Hayes

The Colorado Avalanche already won one championship in their ‘window’, which would typically be considered a job well-done for most franchises. With Nathan Mackinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar all under the age of 28, getting eliminated in the first round of the 2023 NHL Playoffs by the Seattle Kraken just isn’t good enough. Still, the Avalanche are a little tight on cap space and a little top-heavy in their forward group. That’s where Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes comes in.

After a promising 2021-22 season, promising center Alex Newhook took a half-step back all around in 2022-23. For the Colorado Avalanche, two 30-point seasons and zero goals in the last two playoffs combined won’t be good enough. At a minimum, the 16th overall pick in the 2019 draft has shown that he can be, at the very worst, a decent bottom-six center. Newhook is also still just 22 years old, and won’t have the pressure to perform like a star right away in Philadelphia.

If the Flyers manage to get Newhook in a swap for Kevin Hayes, it would be a home run by Daniel Briere and co. Newhook has largely been a victim of the Avalanche’s success, and eating 50% of Hayes salary is an appropriate price to pay for getting the Avalanche to bail on a star talent so quickly. Plus, when it comes down to it, Newhook is probably better than most guys that would be available in the second round of the draft, even in this year’s draft. The Avalanche get to extend their window at a very reasonable price, whilst the Flyers get a desperately needed young center in exchange for a player that is no longer of any value to their team.

The Columbus Blue Jackets already dealt with the Philadelphia Flyers once this summer and got fleeced, but are they willing to do it again? By the sounds of Thursday’s reports, it sure seems like it. The Flyers and Blue Jackets have apparently been talking about a Kevin Hayes move for a while now, but the Blue Jackets didn’t even come within a sniff of making the playoffs, so it doesn’t make all that much sense. Still, if the Blue Jackets wanted to continue to horde prospects and make a deal without giving away too much of their ammunition, they can do so.

Similarly, but not so similarly to Alex Newhook, things haven’t gone Cole Sillinger‘s way after a decent 2021-22 season. Except for Sillinger, the bottom completely fell out this season as he stumbled to just 11 points in 64 games, along with the Blue Jackets being downright terrible. Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen is apparently serious about winning, and with Kent Johnson, captain Boone Jenner, Jack Roslovic, Alexandre Texier, and potential draft pick Leo Carlsson all centers, the Blue Jackets really have no need for Sillinger. If they do decide to sell low on Sillinger, it would make sense for Daniel Briere and the Flyers to try and buy low.

Sean Couturier is expected to be back in the fold in 2023, and while the Flyers roster is bare, it’s not bare enough for it to be like throwing Sillinger to the wolves. John Tortorella is not the type of coach to play young players for the sake of it, but the general expectation is that the Flyers have nothing to play for this year, especially if more and more established roster players get jettisoned out of Philly. A change of scenery might be all it takes for the 12th overall pick in the 2021 draft to flourish. Right now, the opportunity doesn’t seem to be there for him in Columbus.

The Ottawa Senators were meant to be a promising team that could push for a playoff spot in 2022-23, and instead ended up as a defensive dumpster fire with a dynamite offense. Still, the team is good enough that they can run it back in 2023-24, provided they retool a little bit. The Sens currently have $17 million in cap space, but they have one question mark on their roster- RFA Alex DeBrincat. Reports this week have suggested that the Sens are looking to move on from the sniper after just one OK season in Ottawa. Whether DeBrincat stays or is replaced by another RFA, like Jesper Bratt, the Senators will have to spend big money when the time comes. They also have just one goalie and four defensemen under contract for 2023-24.

The Senators have the tools internally to fill out their defense, but the team struggled to click with center Josh Norris missing almost all of last season. With Norris fully healthy and ready to return in 2023, the Senators should be looking to finally make their breakthrough. Carter Hart would be a slam dunk upgrade in goal after Senators fans slogged through last season with the likes of Cam Talbot and Mads Sogaard. To put the cherry on top, Kevin Hayes gives them much needed scoring depth and versatility, at retained money, should the injury bug bite again.

Tyler Boucher, son of former Flyer Brian Boucher, was drafted too high, and that’s OK. The 10th overall pick in 2021 still has the potential to be a fine player, and to win championships, you need real good role players that can do a job and do it well. Tyler Kleven was drafted in the second round (44th overall) by the Senators in 2020, and the ex-University of North Dakota defenseman got his first taste of NHL action in eight games with the Sens this season. Kleven is a towering defenseman at 6’4″ and can do it all defensively. Offensively, he’s a bit passive, but has a sneaky good shot and can make all the passes. Kleven would form a formidable one-two punch with Cam York on the left side of the Flyers defense. All told, both sides fill massive needs.

Daniel Briere and the Philadelphia Flyers have the opportunity to do something crazy if the Vancouver Canucks are willing to dance. At the time of this writing, the Canucks are actually over (!!!) the salary cap by $668,750. The Canucks want to compete, but their roster is extremely hamstrung by two really bad contracts; possibly the two worst in the NHL.

This sounds like a mighty favor to ask of the Flyers, and it is. But, the Flyers can find themselves in a position to grab another game-changer in addition to whoever they draft at seventh overall. This would also mean the Flyers have five total first-round picks between the 2023 and 2024 drafts. Tyler Myers only has one year left at $6 million, but Oliver Ekman-Larsson has four at $7.26 million. If the Flyers are willing to suck it up and suffer through two years of “OEL”, a buyout in 2025 really isn’t too harsh, especially if the most significant Flyers players on the NHL roster at that time are on their entry-level contracts.

For the Canucks, this deal essentially confirms a commitment to trying to compete with the core of their roster as it is. Carter Hart will provide them with a real tandem alongside Thatcher Demko, and Kevin Hayes will help fill out their bottom-six. They would then also have some wiggle room to pursue free agents, such as Damon Severson or Ryan Graves, who are both miles better than Myers and Ekman-Larsson.

Whatever happens, there’s never too much of a risk in being bold. For Daniel Briere, this roster represents a serious challenge for a first-time GM, but there are plenty of outlets worth exploring. Like all things business, it’s eat-or-be-eaten.