It is quite hilarious how everyone was saying I was a complete moron for suggesting Walman and Mikheyev for a 2nd and now this is the type of move we needed to make.
Well, obviously there's a difference between someone offering you cake and you declining, and them simply placing a piece of cake in front of you. You're much less likely to reject it then.
Nonetheless, there are a couple of differences between Hayes and Walman or Mikheyev.
1) Hayes fits a need on the team, and the team is better on paper at this moment. It's fine if you (or someone else) really thinks Ponomarev is ready to be an NHLer in Game 1, and disagree that Hayes is better, but it hedges our bets in case Pono isn't ready yet.
2) If none of these three players improves this season, Hayes will have the most trade value next offseason, as he is a center. There's also the tiniest of possibilities that a team who misses out on a center in free agency might circle around to Hayes, as there are never enough centers in the NHL. I'm not saying it would happen, but the chances are more than 0%.