22 years old
6'4"
216lbs
Left-shooting RW
Brother of Panthers RW Jimmy Hayes
He went 24th overall to Chicago in 2010. He finished his 4th year of NCAA hockey at Boston College this season with career highs in every category, mainly playing on a line with Johnny Gaudreau and Bill Arnold.
Hawks are struggling to come to terms with him on his entry-level contract, so there is a danger that he'll become a UFA on August 15th. If the Blackhawks don't come to terms with him they'll receive a 2nd round pick next year (pick #54 if I'm not mistaken).
Plenty of speculation that Hayes would be keen to rejoin friends and linemates Gaudreau and Arnold in the Flames organisation on or after August 15th. His brother Jimmy was drafted by the Hawks and not given much of an opportunity there, so was traded to the Panthers. There were rumblings from Kevin's camp that he would not sign with the Hawks, but then his agent came out and said that they wouldn't discount anything... and that was months ago, with no news since then.
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Hayes was nominated for the Hobey Baker. Arnold was not. From my limited viewing, he seems to have quite a bit more offensive skill than Arnold, and also fills a hole in the Flames' system. I have gone on record in the past cautioning against signing Hayes in an effort to reproduce the chemistry of that Gaudreau, Arnold, Hayes line at BC, but I think it would be great for the Flames to sign him simply because he is a high end prospect that helps to fulfil a need.
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Originally Posted by woob
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Hayes was nominated for the Hobey Baker. Arnold was not. From my limited viewing, he seems to have quite a bit more offensive skill than Arnold, and also fills a hole in the Flames' system. I have gone on record in the past cautioning against signing Hayes in an effort to reproduce the chemistry of that Gaudreau, Arnold, Hayes line at BC, but I think it would be great for the Flames to sign him simply because he is a high end prospect that helps to fulfil a need.
I think it would be great if Hayes came to the Flames on August 15th.
Much like when Baerstchi was the Flames top prospect and some fans wanted to acquire his old linemate (Rattie) just because they played together. The Flames should always be interested in acquiring talent, but based on the fact that the player either is talented or has a high upside, not because he played with 1 or more current Flames prospects. I think Hayes fits into the former category.
Big. Young. RW. Chemistry with Gaudreau. We could sure use this guy in our system. Hayes knows it too. Seeing how his brother in Florida is unlikely to ever make an NHL roster, it does make most sense for him to sign in Calgary.
Big. Young. RW. Chemistry with Gaudreau. We could sure use this guy in our system. Hayes knows it too. Seeing how his brother in Florida is unlikely to ever make an NHL roster, it does make most sense for him to sign in Calgary.
He played 53 games and put up 18 points with the Panthers last year. He's an NHL'er.
Do we really need this guy though? We have oodles of tweener wingers and he was only the third best player on the JG-Arnold-Hayes line anyways.
Outside of Poirier we have no RW depth. If we can add a large former first round prospect with decent numbers, why wouldn't we?
From his perspective, there isn't a team out there worth worse RW depth almost, so he would hey a great chance. Add the fact his two best buds are on the team and you've got a strong case
He played 53 games and put up 18 points with the Panthers last year. He's an NHL'er.
Fair enough, my mistake. If I recall his ceiling is 3rd line however?
I'm not saying Hayes has star potential, but he does have the potential to play with stars just because of his role in the best NCAA College Forward line. Would be hard to pass that up, as nothing else would skyrocket your development like playing with JG.
Safe to say he wouldn't of been a Hobey Baker candidate without Johnny, so might as well see how far the Johnny train can take him.
'Need' is not a good word. But your post makes little sense, IMO.
As others have said, highly debatable that he was the 'third best' player on the line. He out-produced Arnold and was a HB nominee.
More importantly, he is a big RW - a position that, while recently improved, is still somewhat thin with respect to prospects. Current RW prospects:
Poirier
Smith Ferland
Hanowski Wolf
Carroll
(plus guys like Reinhart that could be moved to RW)
Hayes would instantly slot in along with Smith as our 2nd/3rd best RW prospect.
To say we don't 'need' him, when acquiring him would cost us nothing, makes little sense.
Edit: would love to see the Flames give Zejdl a contract as well
As far as I know Ferland and Wolf are Left Wingers. Be nice if they could switch over though but yeah we could use an older, big RW prospect, especially if he comes free.
...Hayes would instantly slot in along with Smith as our 2nd/3rd best RW prospect...
The rest of your post is spot on, but I think it is extremely felicitous to suggest that Smith is presently a comparable prospect to Hayes. Hayes was a first round pick, a high end college player, and is a few years further along in his development. He is MUCH better than Smith at this point, and would more likely slot closer to Poirier in the depth chart, perhaps even ahead of him.
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Dealing with Everything from Dead Sea Scrolls to Red C Trolls
Quote:
Originally Posted by woob
"...harem warfare? like all your wives dressup and go paintballing?"
