Penguins acquire veteran center in trade with Blues

The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired center Kevin Hayes and St. Louis’ 2025 second-round pick, per Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff. Pittsburgh is sending future considerations the other way. No salary was retained, though Hayes’ cap hit is just $3.571M, with Philadelphia retaining 50% of his original $7.143M cap hit when they traded him to St. Louis.

The Blues quickly flip Hayes to the other side of Pennsylvania just one year after they acquired him from the Flyers in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick. Hayes posted 13 goals and 29 points in 79 games with the Blues – a far cry from the career-high 54 points he managed in his final year with the Flyers. He was tasked as being St. Louis’ reliable, two-way forward on the second line, succeeding Ryan O’Reilly, and while Hayes did well at shutting play down in the middle of the ice, his pace wasn’t enough to inspire much.

But while he didn’t fill the right need in St. Louis, he could be exactly what Pittsburgh needs — offering predictable and reliable impact down the lineup at a relatively cheap cost. The Penguins are facing a cap crunch this summer, with three pending free agents, $7.174M in cap space and superstar Sidney Crosby eligible for an extension on July 1. Hayes could assume the third-line center role behind Evgeni Malkin, making Lars Eller a bit more expendable should Pittsburgh be looking for other cap dumps.