The Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues were embroiled in trade discussions involving Kevin Hayes, with a larger deal initially in the works. However, complications arose, leading to the trade falling through and eventually being scaled down to only involve Hayes. Insider Kevin Weekes was the first to report the abbreviated version of the trade, which has now been confirmed. Despite the setback, the Flyers have managed to move Hayes’ and will retain 50% of his salary for the remaining three years of his contract, resulting in a $3,571,428 cap hit for the Blues.
Kevin Hayes, during his time with the Flyers, contributed 54 points in 81 games played, tallying 18 goals and 36 assists. The decision to move on wasn’t so much about his play as it was about where the Flyers were at in their rebuild and how much Hayes might actually help them in a time of transition. The organization deemed it was a better move to send him onward and hit the refresh button. For the Blues’ they get an effective player at a cap hit of $3,571,428.
No-Trade Hurdles Changed The Initial Trade
Elliotte Friedman’s tweet on June 24th shed light on one of the hurdles preventing the proposed trade between the Flyers and Blues from materializing. The involvement of Kevin Hayes (and potentially more players) was hampered by at least one participant’s refusal to waive their no-trade or no-move clause. It was later revealed that Torey Krug, a player speculated to be part of the deal, declined to waive his no-trade protection, preventing him from joining the Flyers.
In an intriguing turn of events, follow-up reports suggested that the Flyers explored the option of flipping Torey Krug to the New York Islanders in a separate deal. However, their efforts proved unsuccessful, as Krug remained steadfast in his decision not to change teams.
While the initial plans for a larger trade involving Kevin Hayes and potentially Torey Krug failed to materialize, the Philadelphia Flyers ultimately completed a deal with the St. Louis Blues, sending Hayes to his new team. Flyers fans will undoubtedly keep a close eye on how these developments shape the team’s roster moving forward and by no stretch of the imagination are the Flyers done trying to make moves.
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