A Resolution in the Kevin Hayes Saga
The Rangers’ fan base thought it was very peculiar when one of the team’s young leaders was signed to a one-year deal a season before being eligible for unrestricted free agency.
Coach Quinn noted in an interview with NHL.com’s Dan Rosen that Hayes and the team view the contract as an “earn-it” deal.
While that might be the case, the Rangers need to either re-sign him before the trade deadline or trade him. It’s very black-and-white.
While it is on a much smaller scale then the Islanders/John Tavares saga, Hayes leaving the Rangers for nothing in unrestricted free agency for nothing would be a humongous failure for the organization.
While it is understandable that they don’t wanna lock up a player into his 30’s when they have plenty of young, quality prospects at his position. At the end of the day, he could be used as a huge trade asset, but the Rangers need to have a game plan here.
Hayes could very well have a career season in a role that asks more of him offensively and less of him defensively. It will be interesting to see how Quinn deploys him going forward.