Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
Dorchester native and Bruins bust Jimmy Hayes will get a chance to prove he’s still an NHL player this fall, as he has been invited to Devils training camp on a professional tryout, a league source has told the Providence Journal’s Mark Divver.
Hayes’ second chance comes on the heels of what was a disastrous two-year run with the hometown Bruins, scoring just two goals and five points in 58 games last year. Only three NHL skaters played in as many games and had fewer points (forwards Vern Fiddler and Chris Thorburn, and defenseman Mark Borowiecki) and the only 15 players to score fewer goals were all defensemen.
Those lousy numbers gave Hayes just 15 goals and 34 points in 133 total games with the Black and Gold, and ultimately bought out by a B’s front office that simply couldn’t waste more time on him.
“Last year was a tough year for him, certainly,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, whose trade-and-sign to acquire the 6-foot-5 Hayes from Florida was among his first moves as B’s GM in 2015, said of the Hayes buyout back in July. “I think the game has gotten faster and I think it’s caught up to him a bit in that regard. He’s done a lot of work on and off the ice and he’s a great teammate, first and foremost. I want to thank him for putting forth the effort that he did. It just didn’t seem to work for him last year.
“When he stopped scoring, I think Jimmy’s game, he felt a lot of pressure and whether or not the environment or his own human nature kind of played a part of it.”
New Jersey's gamble on the winger comes following a season in which they ranked 28th in goals scored (180), and had the league's 22nd-ranked power-play unit (17.5 percent).
One of two buyouts currently on the B’s books (defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, who has since landed on his feet with the Islanders, is the other), the Bruins will pay Hayes over $566,000 this year and over $866,000 in 2018-19 for him not to play for them.
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
Join the Discussion:
»