Philadelphia Flyers: 5 Trade Ideas for Kevin Hayes

Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period reported that Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes had come up in trade talks with the Columbus Blue Jackets. But, are there other teams that might make more sense for the veteran?

If Kevin Hayes is traded by the Philadelphia Flyers, he will have played for his fourth different team in a five year span. The longtime Ranger was dealt by New York to the Winnipeg Jets during the 2018-19, and Hayes spent no more than 26 games with the franchise before signing with the Flyers. In his first season in the Orange and Black, Hayes scored 13 points in 16 playoff games. Since then, it’s been all downhill.

The last time Kevin Hayes and the Philadelphia Flyers made the playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes also made the playoffs, thanks to the qualifying round in the 2019-20 pandemic playoffs. Now, the Carolina Hurricanes are the top dogs in the Metropolitan Division.

This may seem like an underwhelming return for Kevin Hayes on the surface, but the Philadelphia Flyers do not have a second-round pick in this year’s draft. After factoring in the salary retention and Hayes’ age, this is more than a fair deal for both sides. At the time of this writing, the Carolina Hurricanes have $24.1 million in cap space, but key contributors like captain Jordan Staal, Paul Stastny, Jesper Fast, and Shayne Gostisbehere are all free agents. Next summer, Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, Martin Necas, Seth Jarvis, Brady Skjei, Brett Pesce, and Jalen Chatfield will all need new deals as well. The Hurricanes could easily give a player like Ryan Suzuki a crack at a full-time roster spot, but considering how well they performed without Andrei Svechnikov and Teravainen, it would be smarter to lean into their window and add a veteran second-line center like 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.

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.