New York Rangers: The case for extending Kevin Hayes

Ever since New York Rangers’ center Kevin Hayes agreed to a one year contract to stave off arbitration, it started the presumed clock on his time with the organization. That may prove to be a mistake.

The allure of playing at the world’s most famous arena and living in the biggest city in the entire world is quite the offer to make to someone in their early 20s. Coming off of a loss to the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup final, the New York Rangers had a dearth of talent down the middle.

In terms of the talent disparity, the Kings were on another planet rolling out Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and Jaret Stoll while New York relied on Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard, Brad Richards and Brian Boyle. While perfectly fine for a regular season run, the Rangers’ group simply lacked the high-end talent to compete deep in the postseason against the league’s elite.

When New York successfully poached Hayes away from the Chicago Blackhawks, who owned his draft rights, it seemed like a perfect situation to come into. As a rookie, the Boston College product posted 45 points and led all players in primary assists at just 22 years old. However, after showing such a strong offensive inclination, the center was transitioned to a tougher assignment.

Whether or not then head coach Alain Vigneault made the right choice, is a matter of opinion, but over time Hayes managed to round out his game and become much more balanced as a player. It took about two full seasons of heavy defensive zone starts against tough opponents, but now, Hayes is arguably the Rangers’ best two-way player.

With the greater context of the team’s situation in mind, it’s ultimately up to the front office as to whether or not Hayes should remain in the fold or get dealt at the deadline.

Why they wouldn’t

There are a handful of reasons as to why the Rangers’ front office would trade Hayes away on a one year contract. Based on the team’s current prospect pool, one position that the team is certainly set at is center. With both Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil trying to crack the NHL roster for a bigger role, it presents a log jam situation.

In addition to needing a spot to play the team’s young players, there is also the cap space situation. Being that the team is being designed with the future in mind, it is important to keep as much space as possible free to target marquee free agents or have flexibility for more trades.

Simply speaking, Hayes would be a valuable commodity on the open market. As a player with high offensive upside that has the ability to play tough minutes and kill penalties, he’s the ideal trade deadline piece for a contender. In all likelihood, the Boston native would likely command north of $6 million per season on the open market.

At that figure, the Rangers’ front office may feel inclined to roll the dice with Andersson, Chytil and Mika Zibanejad next year down the middle as a cost-effective measure. If the rumors are true that Artemi Panarin is determined to hit the open market, the Russian is going to need a large yearly figure.

Why it’d be a mistake to not extend him

Simply put, trading a good player because he’s taking away ice time from prospects is illogical. While the coaching staff and front office have both emphasized their position that Andersson and Chytil should remain at center, there comes a point where it’s hurting the composition of the team.

I can confidently say that Chytil playing on the wing with Zibanejad and Zuccarello would be better for his development as a player than centering the fourth line between Cody McLeod and Vinni Lettieri. While I understand the hope that long-term both Andersson and Chytil can be centers, right now, it hurts the future to trade away Hayes.

Now, I’m not saying there isn’t a trade that could work. If the front office gets an offer that blows it away, Hayes is of course tradable. There is no player in the entire NHL that is untradable, this is the same league in which Wayne Gretzky was traded…twice.

Ultimately, I think the strongest case for keeping Hayes is that he has yet to reach his peak. Through a month and a half of the 2018-2019 season, there is an argument that Hayes was the team’s most consistent player.

While he’s never going to win over everyone, somehow people still argue that Hayes is a lazy or outright bad player, there is no denying his importance to the group. In addition, he does genuinely love playing for the Rangers and has said that he wants to stay with the organization for his entire career.

Final thoughts

To nicely tie things up,  unless the front office gets an offer that blows it away, it should pursue a Hayes extension. At age 26, the Rangers can buy up several years of high-end production and still manage to avoid overpaying a declining player. A five year deal at about 6.25 million per season would be a reasonable offer.

This would set the Rangers up down the middle for the future and allow lineup flexibility. With Hayes playing some of the best hockey of his career to date, it would be illogical to just move on for a first round pick because the team is supposed to be rebuilding.

Just because the team’s focus is player development does not mean that it can’t feature finished products. Keeping a guy like Hayes in the fold sends a message to the team’s young players that they’re not too far away from being a legitimately good team.

I do think the foundation for an eventually good team is already within the organization. A team built around Zibanejad, Hayes, Andersson, Chytil, Pavel Buchnevich, Chris Kreider, Vitali Kravtsov, Brett Howden can be decent. It’ll really be up to the coaching staff to continue bringing along young players and the front office to supplement the roster.

I just think Hayes has too much talent as a player to move on from simply because he’s taking a roster spot. The Boston College product is young enough that he can still be a factor when the team is a contender again.