The Philadelphia Flyers are trading center Kevin Hayes to the St. Louis Blues for a 2024 sixth-round pick, per NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes. Hayes, 31, had a modified no-movement clause in his contract with the Flyers. Hayes still has three years remaining at a cap hit of around $7.1 million. The deal is official. Weekes mentioned there was another component to the deal and that’s the Flyers retaining 50% of Hayes’ salary.
The Flyers have the seventh overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, which will take place on Wednesday night with the first round and wrap up on Thursday afternoon with rounds 2-7. Philly has had a busy offseason with the new braintrust of Daniel Briere, Keith Jones and John LeClair. This summer is big for the franchise as it tries to move forward in its rebuild and back into contention in the East.
Clearing some of Hayes’ salary gives the Flyers a bit more flexibility with the cap heading into free agency. Noah Cates and Morgan Frost are both restricted free agents and should get bridge deals. Philly will eventually need to sign D Sean Walker, who was acquired as part of the three-team trade involving D Ivan Provorov. Forward Owen Tippett will also need a new deal as a RFA after the 2023-24 season.
For the Blues, this is an interesting move. St. Louis has 10 forwards under contract for 2023-24 and most of them signed long-term. The Blues did have a need at center since most of their forwards are a bit interchangeable and play out of position. Hayes going to center helps St. Louis shift Pavel Buchnevich, Jordan Kyrou and Brayden Schenn back to wing full-time. Hayes can still be productive as a third-line center. He had 54 points in 81 games this past season.