Sunday, Larry Brooks wrote that the Rangers and Kevin Hayes looked likely to agree on a one-year deal as the two sides were unable to agree on a long-term contract. My hope at the time was that cooler heads would prevail and multi-year extension reached. Instead, to me, the worst-case scenario occurred, a one year contract signed with Hayes a UFA after the season.
Hayes earned $2.6 mil per year on a two-year deal signed in July 2016, which was his second deal. This contract is nearly double what he made each of the past two seasons. That dollar figure is a gross overpaid for a one-year deal, but if New York does move him at the deadline, which right now seems to be a lead-pipe cinch, half of that cap hit will be eaten to facilitate a trade. Below is the where the Rangers are in terms of the cap:
Ryan Spooner remains the only RFA unsigned. When he inks a deal, I expect New York to have about six million of cap room based upon the belief that Matt Beleskey opens the season on the active roster. The Rangers still have some flexibility to take on salary but much of the open room was eaten up by the two years deals signed by Vladislav Namestnikov and Jimmy Vesey, who had Nam signed for longer than Hayes when the off-season started, and six year contract inked with Brady Skjei on Saturday along with one year contract for Hayes.
Take a look at the above and compare that to the deals signed by Tomas Hertl, Elias Lindholm and Adam Henrique and tell me Hayes didn’t deserve a long-term extension? With Hayes signed a one year deal, he could ink a long-term extension in January 1. What’s the likelihood of that happening for Hayes to stay in New York rather than as part of a sign-and-trade? Someone tweeted to me that Hayes should be dealt for assets in a trade and then re-sign him when he hits free agency. What’s the probability of Hayes wanting to re-sign in New York at that time let alone in general? In addition, by signing Hayes for $5.125 million, which is probably just under a mil more than he should have received for one year, the bar in terms of $ cost for the next contact has been raised, especially in New York.
With Hayes signed for one war only, here are my additional thoughts and will post what I had written in the past below:
1) if there was a belief that Mika Zibanejad might be dealt, erase that now. He is the clear #1 pivot man in New York and here for a while
2) the pressure on Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson and Brett Howden just got ratcheted up a few notches. One of them has to prove he can be the second center and another the third. All the talk that New York had depth at center and therefore didn’t need Hayes long term to me was fallacy. Hayes was their best all around pivotman. He showed he could be a shut down center and then shifted his game after the trades last year to be more of a scorer. Now, the main criticisms of Hayes were that he was slow and held the puck too much. Those are accurate but remember when we said he couldn’t win draws and look how he improved in that regard so why not in these deficiencies?
3) Namestnikov now is a more important member of the team. If you asked me after the year which player I wanted dealt and the answer as Nam, which is my answer today. But now on a two year deal, he becomes a somewhat more critical component moving forward than Hayes. Maybe all three Chytil, Andersson and Howden pan out and you are set. Maybe one moves to wing and Nam shifts back to center but I sure as heck wish it was Hayes as the #2c in the future rather than relying on unproven commodities even during a rebuild.
I was mostly okay with the decisions made this offseason. A few other depth signings would have been the direction I went, but I get why they didn’t. This to me is a really bad and short sighted move that will hurt New York in the future. I reiterate what I wrote just yesterday:
I know he is a polarizing figure to the fan base and clearly the organization, but to just sign him for one year and then lose him to free agency, even with the hopes that he brings in an asset, maybe a late first rounder with a second piece at a minimum, seems a poor utilization of your second or at worst third line center. The adage of you don't know or miss what you have until it's gone applies very well to Hayes.
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