The commerce
Penguins get: Middle Kevin Hayes, second-round decide in 2025
Blues get: Future concerns
Sean Gentille: Heading into their offseason, the Penguins’ want for a viable third middle was clear. Lars Eller introduced a obligatory component to their lineup (and locker room) final season, however he’s defense-only at this level in his profession. The one largest problem behind Pittsburgh’s decline over the previous few years had been an absence of viable secondary scoring. Blame former GM Ron Hextall for that. One thing needed to change.
In that regard, buying Hayes makes some quantity of sense. Pittsburgh wanted choices, and Hayes qualifies. Simply barely, although. If we’re a number of days into July and he’s their principal addition, they’ll have failed.
The principle problem is that Hayes’ level manufacturing and total effectiveness as an offensive participant has fallen off fairly dramatically over the previous few seasons, beginning with 2022-23, when he fell out of favor with Flyers coach John Tortorella. St. Louis took a half-price flyer on him earlier than final season, getting Philadelphia to retain half of his cap hit and usually taking part in him in a bottom-six position on a fringe playoff workforce. The top consequence was 29 factors in 79 video games. His linemates have been a problem, and that’s on observe to be the case with Pittsburgh too. He’s a participant who looks like a fringe third-liner, and his projections again up that sentiment.
There are causes to not dislike this for the Penguins. Hayes, like we stated, offers them a fallback plan. At $3.57 million, he’s not breaking their wage cap financial institution both, and the second-round sweetener is good, given GM Kyle Dubas’ ongoing try and rebuild their prospect base. It doesn’t make them worse for this season, and it makes them slightly higher transferring ahead.
St. Louis, in the meantime, will get out from below a contract that didn’t make sense so as to add within the first place, and so they do it with out retaining any wage. Can’t ask for far more than that.
Pittsburgh grade: C+
St. Louis grade: C+
Dom Luszczyszyn: The Penguins entered the offseason with a giant gap at third line middle so it’s not shocking they wasted no time attempting to fill it. I simply don’t suppose Kevin Hayes was the correct reply.
For starters, the league’s oldest workforce isn’t getting any youthful right here. Hayes is 32 and his finest years are behind him. Final 12 months he managed a career-low 1.35 points-per-60 at five-on-five and didn’t actually drive play offensively. He didn’t enter the zone with management as a lot as earlier years and he particularly didn’t create a lot off passes. Playmaking was as soon as a significant power for Hayes, however his probability help fee dropped from 4.1 per 60 to 2.0 with the Blues in keeping with knowledge tracked by Corey Sznajder.
A part of that’s Hayes’ position decrease within the lineup — he didn’t have many proficient shooters to move to. His commonest linemates have been Alexei Toropchenko and Kasperi Kapanen so he deserves some offensive slack. Nonetheless, that’s not a state of affairs that doubtless modifications in Pittsburgh given the workforce’s annual depth troubles previous the underside six. It factors to Hayes not being an offensive driver in his personal proper.
On the very least, Hayes confirmed he can maintain his personal defensively in that position final season, however his relative defensive numbers needs to be taken with some grain of salt given the simpler utilization. He doesn’t have a lot of a historical past in that regard.
All of that’s precisely why the Blues had so as to add a sweetener for the Penguins to take Hayes off their palms. He’s not price his present cap hit, even with the Flyers nonetheless retaining half of it, and the price of that favor was a second-round decide in 2025. That association is what takes this deal from “What are you doing, Pittsburgh?” to “Wonderful, no matter.”
Hayes will not be the reply to Pittsburgh’s issues and from that vantage level, this doesn’t really feel preferrred for a workforce that missed the playoffs final season. However a free second-round decide is a free second-round decide and that makes this deal all proper for each side.
Pittsburgh grade: B
St. Louis grade: B
(Photograph: Jeff Curry / USA Immediately)