Confirmed with Link: [PHI/WPG] Kevin Hayes UFA rights for a 2019 5th

[deadhead]

Hayes is one of the best options available, whether through trade or FA.
Comes down to the term and price, but I don't think he'll get what Nelson got, Nelson had the Islanders over a barrel, Fletcher can write off a 5th rd pick without blinking.

Pretty sure AV must have recommended Hayes, it's not a matter of the HC dictating to the GM, but when they're not on the same page and talking, your franchise is in deep s***. AV knows Hayes, and could reassure Fletcher that last year wasn't a fluke. The fact that AV had Hayes playing more of a defensive role in NY is a good thing, at the age AV had him, most forwards are offense first and need to be taught defense.

Fletcher had said a two way forward was a priority, Duchene is offense first at a much higher price.

If you watch the Blues, their forwards are very disciplined when it comes to covering for the D-men when they pinch and attack, given our talented young D-men, we need that from our forwards as well to get the most out of our defense. Hayes should help there.

Ideally, 5x6, that would take him from 27-31 years old. At worst an overpaid but productive 3rd line forward, like Bozak.

 

[Jettany]

I guess in a world where career high 63 point guy Skinner is rumoured to be getting 9 million, getting Hayes in the 6-7 range is "fair".

Just think, the Jets paid 2 1st rounders+ trying to fill the #2 C spot(Stas and Hayes trades). We paid a 5th. And if Patrick comes in and plays great, we have great C depth again and all 3 are good defensively. And Hayes can PK which is nice.

He can also play wing when Frost is ready.

 

[Stizzle]

That's all I got lol. What are your negatives/concerns?

Mostly salary cap implications. People are basking in the glory of having space for the first time in many years, but that's going to dry up quick. You can pretty much kiss players like JVR and Jake goodbye very soon.

All the people celebrating this deal now are going to be singing a different tune when Couts contract is up and we're left holding the bill of this turd for 3 more years. You better hope we can move him somehow. Couturier's next contract won't be cheap, and that's just a year after Hart's new deal.

You're also forfeiting opportunities from your high upside prospect. Frost won't be playing his natural, and most impactful position. Frost's importance to this franchise is 10x that of Kevin Hayes.

Dead serious question. When is the next lockout? I already have plans for an amnesty buyout.

 

[Striiker]

Mostly salary cap implications. People are basking in the glory of having space for the first time in many years, but that's going to dry up quick. You can pretty much kiss players like JVR and Jake goodbye very soon.

All the people celebrating this deal now are going to be singing a different tune when Couts contract is up and we're left holding the bill of this turd for 3 more years. You better hope we can move him somehow. Couturier's next contract won't be cheap, and that's just a year after Hart's new deal.

You're also forfeiting opportunities from your high upside prospect. Frost won't be playing his natural, and most impactful position. Frost's importance to this franchise is 10x that of Kevin Hayes.

Dead serious question. When is the next lockout? I already have plans for an amnesty buyout.

The curse of not being shortsighted...

 

[Stizzle]

In a few years the Flyers will have lost a player to Seattle, quite possibly a high priced forward like Voracek, JVR or Hayes.

If they go 4-4-1:

-Giroux(NMC), Couturier, Konency, Patrick
-Ghost, Sanheim, Provorov, Myers
-Hart

That would leave:

-Voracek, JVR, Hayes, Laughton, Lindblom, Hartman, Bailey, NAK, Vorobyev, Kase, Twarynski, Bunnaman, Laberge, Rubtsov
-Hagg, Morin, Friedman
-Sandstrom

Why in the world would Seattle pass on Lindblom for one of our 30 year olds making big money?

 

[Curufinwe]

Mostly salary cap implications. People are basking in the glory of having space for the first time in many years, but that's going to dry up quick. You can pretty much kiss players like JVR and Jake goodbye very soon.

All the people celebrating this deal now are going to be singing a different tune when Couts contract is up and we're left holding the bill of this turd for 3 more years. You better hope we can move him somehow. Couturier's next contract won't be cheap, and that's just a year after Hart's new deal.

You're also forfeiting opportunities from your high upside prospect. Frost won't be playing his natural, and most impactful position. Frost's importance to this franchise is 10x that of Kevin Hayes.

Dead serious question. When is the next lockout? I already have plans for an amnesty buyout.

Hayes also plays wing.

Couturier's next contract will come into effect one year after the expansion draft.

 

[Adtar02]

Is he a better all round than layer than jvr???

 

[Ghosts Beer]

I expect 6 x 7.0 or 7 x 6.0. I would be pretty happy with 6 x 6.0 considering Nelson got that and Hayes is the better player.

I agree. It will take at least 6 years. Maybe 7.

And probably at least $6.5M per.

I woke up this morning much more skeptical that Hayes will sign before July 1. (I guess I was thinking about it in my sleep. How sad!)

I know if I were a player agent, I’d never let my client sign just weeks before a potential UFA bidding war unless he had strong personal reasons for it.

It also dawned on me that Hayes (& presumably his current agent) engineered an early free agency by not signing with Chicago out of college. If they went down the FA path once before to consider all options & offers on the table, why would they act differently this time?

The Flyers will have to really bowl Hayes over with an offer, & he’ll have to have a strong desire to play in Philly, for this to get done before July 1. I think he’ll wait it out. That doesn’t mean he won’t still sign here, but I think he’ll want to consider all options & entertain a possible bidding war.

 

[Jettany]

YES! This so much.

This signing makes us a 97-105 point team next year instead of a 95-102 point team (whatever, you fill in your own numbers). But it really hurts our chances of being a 110-point team in 2022.

And hey it could work out, we could get lucky and get to the SCF next year like St. Louis. But there's no way this is the optimal path long-term.

If in 2022 Hayes is a third line left-winger, who can play center in a pinch (with 3 years left at 6-6.5), is this teams only issue count your blessings. It will be a 110 point team by then.

 

[GKJ]

Isn't Zucker primarily a LW? We're pretty set there.

Very little is off the table when it comes to improving scoring this summer

 

[Curufinwe]

Is he a better all round than layer than jvr???

You'll have to ask the puck bunnies.

 

[PhlthyRich]

Mostly salary cap implications. People are basking in the glory of having space for the first time in many years, but that's going to dry up quick. You can pretty much kiss players like JVR and Jake goodbye very soon.

All the people celebrating this deal now are going to be singing a different tune when Couts contract is up and we're left holding the bill of this turd for 3 more years. You better hope we can move him somehow. Couturier's next contract won't be cheap, and that's just a year after Hart's new deal.

You're also forfeiting opportunities from your high upside prospect. Frost won't be playing his natural, and most impactful position. Frost's importance to this franchise is 10x that of Kevin Hayes.

Dead serious question. When is the next lockout? I already have plans for an amnesty buyout.

Valid concerns, but the salary should continue to grow between now and Couts next contract. As for Frost, he'll likely play C for Phantoms this year and Hayes can play wing when Frost gets here. 3 years from now can be a worry for any long-term contract given out unless its your young homegrown franchise player. If we signed Duchene (takes Frost spot too), Panarin or Karlsson instead of Hayes, we still have this contract + cap concern with Couts and our young guys.

 

[deadhead]

I doubt Hayes is going to get as much as Nelson, look at what FAs got last year, JVR, who has a much better track record than Hayes, 56, 62, 56 points, got 5x7 at age 29 (first year of new contract).
Perron (30) 66 point season - 4x4
Stastny (32) 53 points, 3x6.5
Boask (32) 43 points, 3x5

Teams will be wary of a career year and his playoff struggles, and may see him more as a 40-45 point center, depending on usage.

 

[Redpath]

This wasn’t my preferred option by any means, but the fear that this will somehow ruin our cap structure long term is laughable.

There is a window between cap hell and being 100% homegrown. People need to learn the difference

 

[Stizzle]

Hayes also plays wing.

Couturier's next contract will come into effect one year after the expansion draft.

You don't pay a guy like this, with such little scoring upside, to play the wing.

Again, praying one of our high paid old guys gets taken in expansion isn't exactly great planning.

 

[Willis88]

I'm really not sure why everyone is so butt hurt about this move. Hayes is the second best center in this UFA class. I'd rather we make this move to negotiate with him now, then wait and put all our eggs in one basket with Duchene - just to see him sign somewhere else and ultimately drive Hayes price up.

 

[Knarf9o5o1o4o9]

Brock Nelson getting 6 by 6 kind of screws us. Hayes has better stats and is a better possession player, so Im expecting a 6 year 6.75 AAV ish contract. Not thrilled, and would rather pay more for a guy like Duchene at that point.

 

[Psuhockey]

Mostly salary cap implications. People are basking in the glory of having space for the first time in many years, but that's going to dry up quick. You can pretty much kiss players like JVR and Jake goodbye very soon.

All the people celebrating this deal now are going to be singing a different tune when Couts contract is up and we're left holding the bill of this turd for 3 more years. You better hope we can move him somehow. Couturier's next contract won't be cheap, and that's just a year after Hart's new deal.

You're also forfeiting opportunities from your high upside prospect. Frost won't be playing his natural, and most impactful position. Frost's importance to this franchise is 10x that of Kevin Hayes.

Dead serious question. When is the next lockout? I already have plans for an amnesty buyout.

Doing nothing is not an option since fan interest is down and Comcast is not making as much money. So something was going to be done. That is the reality. It’s a business after all. You just have to hope the negative effects of action will be small. So far it’s just a 5th and capspace.

 

[bennysflyers16]

If Hayes and Jake play together, they will be able to cycle the f*** out of teams down low.

 

[baudib1]

If in 2022 Hayes is a third line left-winger, who can play center in a pinch (with 3 years left at 6-6.5), is this teams only issue count your blessings. It will be a 110 point team by then.

In two years we will need to move on from JVR, maybe move on from Voracek, replace a core player (probably a top 4 D) due to expansion, sign Carter Hart to a bridge or long-term deal and finally come to grips with the fact that Couturier is in line for probably a $7M-$8M/year raise.

Hayes making $6M+ at that point will be a major nuisance.

 

[Appleyard]

Is he a better all round than layer than jvr???

Good PKer who is very solid defensively.

 

[sa cyred]

Going to post his, but Striiker.. .DONT READ IT

 

[Jettany]

If Hayes and Jake play together, they will be able to cycle the **** out of teams down low.

With JVR or Oskar picking up the loose change.

 

[Adtar02]

Good PKer who is very solid defensively.

So slight dip in points but better over all game.

 

[deadhead]

If we move on from JVR and Voracek, that's $15.5M off the books, to be replaced by Farabee, Frost, Ratcliffe et al.

Hayes' contract won't kill this team, Duchene would be a much bigger risk if he gets something like 7x10 and plays like his career norm, 20-26 46 ES for the first three years (29-31) then the last four (32-35) scores like Hayes without his defense. Then you're paying $10M a year for a 3C with mediocre defense.

I'm not thrilled about signing him, but I'm not worried unless Fletcher gives him a really bad contract.