New York Rangers Rumors: Kevin Hayes is Not Being Shopped

The New York Rangers will not move one of their most promising young forwards this offseason, according to reports.

After a ho-hum season, it appears that Kevin Hayes will be back for his 3rd season on Broadway in the Fall. According to the New York Post’s Larry Brooks, the New York Rangers will not shop their 24-year-old center.

It would make sense for the Rangers to keep Hayes for a few reasons. Hayes is a restricted free agent so there really isn’t much negotiating room there for him since he can’t sign with any other team unless he signs an offer sheet, which very rarely happens in the NHL. GM Jeff Gorton will play hardball with the 6’5″ forward in contract talks. Even with Hayes’ contract likely being decided in an arbitration case, his cap hit for next season shouldn’t be any more than $1.5-$2 million.

Hayes can prove to provide terrific value for the Rangers. If he is signed to a cheap bridge deal or has his contract talks go through arbitration, the Rangers won’t be paying the immensely talented Hayes much money. If he breaks out this year, that makes the contract even better.

Another reason the New York Rangers want to keep Hayes aboard is because of his friendship with pending UFA Jimmy Vesey. The former Harvard forward and Nashville Predators’ draft pick, whose draft rights now belong to the Buffalo Sabres is very good friends with Kevin Hayes. Hayes, having been in the same situation that Vesey finds himself in now after not signing with the team he was drafted by thus becoming a free agent and signing with the Rangers, understands with Vesey is going through.

Toronto, Boston, and Buffalo are expected to be the top 3 teams on Vesey’s list for when he becomes a UFA on August 15th, but the Rangers hope that with Hayes on the team, he can try to convince his buddy to come join the Rangers organization.

There will be some fans that would tell you that Hayes needed to be traded this offseason. Hayes appeared to have regressed last season. His point total dropped by 9 from his rookie season. His Corsi-for percentage also dropped from 51.1 to 48.9. He had so many stretches over the course of the season of being invisible on the ice, forcing Alain Vigneault to bench him a few times towards the end of the season and in the playoffs–while he should have been benching a guy like Tanner Glass.

Hayes was labeled “lazy” by the media and a lot of its fans last season. His teammate Derek Stepan didn’t see it that way and defended his friends. In a media scrum, Stepan had this to say to Sean Hartnett of WFAN.com ““He’s definitely handled himself the right way. The best thing about Kevin is his passion for his game. At every point in a career, you’re going to go through a struggle. However the media takes it and puts it out there, that’s how you’re labeled. Sometimes it’s wrong.”

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Stepan continued “It’s not a matter of work ethic or laziness, I think the thing with Kevin is he wants to be part of the help so badly, that sometimes he tries to do everything. He works extremely hard. We’re all guilty of that at some point. He’s trying to help somebody else and it’s a read – he’s trying to do the right thing.”

I personally think that Hayes’ struggles last season were due to a classic case of the sophomore slump. I am completely fine with the Rangers holding onto him, but I do think for the right offer they should be willing to trade him, and I think at the end of the day, Jeff Gorton feels the same way. Of the 3 RFA forwards from last year’s team–Hayes, J.T. Miller, and Chris Kreider–Hayes would be the one I’d be most willing to part with.

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If Hayes learns to find consistency in his game, whether he is scoring or not, and he learns how to use his size to his advantage, he could be a scary good player going forward. He has ways to go, but I am hoping he is still in a New York Rangers uniform when he finally figures it all out.