12/29 | Hayes’ agent said this week that he has “no idea” what the Rangers are going to do with Hayes and no talks are currently scheduled. (The Athletic)
12/26 | Kevin Hayes is currently on a seven-game point streak that has seen him net five goals and eight assists.
He has eight goals and nineteen assist in his past 24 games and the Rangers can sign him to a contract extension starting on January 1, 2019.
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He is currently on a one-year deal worth $5.175 million and is slated to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2019.
Hayes said recently that he isn’t expecting anything to happen on January 1 with a new contract and also isn’t thinking about the possibility of being moved at the deadline. (Newsday)
- The NHL Trade Deadline is at 2/25/19 at 3PM.
He said that he has stepped up as someone with a “big voice” in the locker room and tries to lead by example. (Newsday)
He noted that the big step in his game has come from him realizing he had to be “good every night” if the Rangers were to be successful. (Newsday)
Elliotte Friedman said recently that the Rangers “really tried” to get Hayes signed long-term over the summer but had to settle for the one-year deal.
He noted that there should be a lot of interest around Hayes at the trade deadline and pointed to teams like Colorado, Boston and Winnipeg that all might have interest.
At a fan forum prior to the season, GM Jeff Gorton said that the Rangers want to be as flexible with roster spots as possible but that Hayes is someone they want to keep. (NYR)
At the same fan forum, Rangers President Glen Sather said “Kevin has the opportunity for a great year, he is an ambitious guy, good player, he’s gonna have a great year. I expect that he will get a better position than the one Jeff was going to offer him this summer. It’s up to the player.” (NYR)
Adam Rotter: The Rangers don’t have to make a decision on Hayes today but they do have to do it soon. Discussions will likely pick up in the next week or two and things will go from there. Since extension talks were conducted over the summer there is already a starting place and the two sides will have to see if a match can be made.
Hayes has proven this season that he can and should be part of the rebuild and that the Rangers are a better team, and one closer to the playoffs with him on it, but a deal has to make sense. I really do think that this ultimately comes down to no-trade/no-move protection. Hayes wants to stay a Ranger and the Rangers want to keep him, but they also want to have the flexibility to move him as an option.
There will be a lot of interest in Hayes over the next two months, which bodes well for the Rangers, but as a rental they will probably be limited in what they get. Surely they could get a first round pick and a prospect, like the Rick Nash deal, and maybe conditional picks based upon Hayes re-signing with that team or how deep into the playoffs they go, but they are unlikely to get any roster player or true top prospect.
It really is a flip from where it seemed things were heading. It seemed like Hayes was a goner once he signed that one-year deal but the Rangers do want to keep him. It’s just a matter of if they can find a way to do it that still leaves them with flexibility down the line.