The Flyers Have Hayes Fever
This past June, the Flyers inked a 7 year, $50 million deal with Kevin Hayes to keep him on Broad Street through 2026.
Hayes played for new head coach Alain Vigneault for his first 4 years in the league with the Rangers and is coming off a career-high 55 points last season where he split time between the Rangers and the Jets as a trade deadline acquisition.
Hayes was the answer to the big splash new GM Chuck Fletcher wanted to make in his inaugural offseason, so how is he looking so far?
The Flyers have just hit the 10 game mark of the 2019-2020 season, which for me is the bare minimum amount of games to qualify a judgment to be made. Hayes has started the season with four goals and three assists for 7 points, including the first Flyers shorthanded goal of the season this past Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Vigneault has been using Hayes in all situations and keeping his ice time averaging over 18 minutes thus far. He’s had a positive influence on the penalty kill and can slow down play around him in the offensive zone to make intelligent passes.
So what do we get out of Kevin Hayes, and what can we expect to see from him the rest of the season?
What I see in Hayes is a big frame (6’5’, 216 lbs) center that has a high hockey IQ in all three zones. He’s always strong on the puck and does a great job of finding his open teammate.
The coaching staff has been switching the lines around a lot early on, but any of the Flyers on the wings will benefit from Hayes as their center this season. His poise is going to keep him as a force in the orange and black for a long time, and fans can rely on him to make the smart play any time he’s shaving ice.
Write it down: Hayes is going to have a big year, racking up 70 points and 25 goals this season for a career year in his first season as a Flyer.
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