[News] Kevin Hayes signs with the Rangers

[Beatle17]

A little off topic, but can anyone tell me if Kevin Hayes is actually a good enough player to crack the Rangers line up? Is his skating strong enough etc. The only thing I know about him is what I have read here and watching one game in the WHC, where to be honest he looked drastically out of place with pro players.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Freeway

Ryan Graves' deal is gonna slide, so the Rangers can still sign their remaining RFA and be at the contract limit.

Yes I meant that the Hayes contract puts them at 50 contracts.

However, most teams want the flexibility of being at less than 50 contracts so they can make non 1 for 1 trades, waiver pickups, and college free agent signings.

[bubbsy]

as a american kid, with his pick of the litter, not really that shocking he picked a place like NY. Arguably the best city for a male in their 20s, who also happens to be a rich pro athlete, in america.

if i was single, and was able to make million(s) a year and could pick any city to do so, for the next 5 years, NYC would be an almost slam dunk choice.

[Muta]

I'm happy for him. New York would be an awesome place for a young kid to live in, play a professional sport and make a bunch of money. New York is a fantastic city and I'd like to try living there some day.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by Muta

I'm happy for him. New York would be an awesome place for a young kid to live in, play a professional sport and make a bunch of money. New York is a fantastic city and I'd like to try living there some day.

Agreed. NYC is awesome (but taxes are killer!).

I had a faint hope he'd sign with the Flames just because that would have been another prospect in the hopper (which can never hurt). The fact that he went to the Rangers just sucks. Between St. Louis, Nash, Erixon and Sather's ability to trade out from under his mistakes, I hate them. The only redeeming thing is Sather and the Rangers saved Feaster from himself by signing Richards. Phew.

[saillias]

Yeah, all these guys choose NYC not because they really see a good fit with the team or think it's the best choice for their career, but because they want the NY lifestyle. The results are what you'd expect.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Not surprising at all. Seems like every UFA wants to play in New York.

Richards, Pouliot, Boyle out
Lombardi, Stempniak, Hayes in

Pretty underwhelming list of UFAs.

Anyway, do we need to call him Tom now?

[Freeway]

FWIW: The Flames are at 46 contracts if/when they sign Bouma, including four sliding deals. So effectively they're at 42.

[Table 5]

Meh, at least it wasn't to the Avs.

[Anduril]

Other than arguably a better city for a young rich athlete, what else does NY offer over Chicago exactly?

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Anduril

Other than arguably a better city for a young rich athlete, what else does NY offer over Chicago exactly?

Closer to home apparently:

Mark Divver @MarkDivver
Word's out: Kevin Hayes agrees to deal with Rangers. Location was important. MSG's an easy trip for #bigdaddy

[The Fonz]

I believe Hayes had some personal issues against Chicago management. That's speculation, but it would explain a lot.

[Enoch Root]

That's too bad that we didn't get a free prospect, but at least he's in the east.

Hard to criticize someone for choosing NY, or for wanting to be close to home. But I think he is unlikely to get more than a cup of coffee with the big club this year (if in fact that was something that he was looking for).

[Ruttiger]

Originally Posted by madmike

I think the Flames just had too many good prospects on the wing for Hayes to want to play in Calgary. The Rangers' prospect pool is much thinner so it makes good sense for him to go there.

A free prospect would have been nice, but I think he would have had a tough time making the Flames' NHL roster - now and in the future.

Was this a serious post? You feel he'll have a tougher time making the roster of a 27th place team than a Stanley Cup finalist? Regardless of whether the Rangers were a surprise finalist, I feel like I'm being punked.

[wingmaker]

Originally Posted by Ruttiger

Was this a serious post? You feel he'll have a tougher time making the roster of a 27th place team than a Stanley Cup finalist? Regardless of whether the Rangers were a surprise finalist, I feel like I'm being punked.

I don't think that Hayes chose the Rangers over Calgary because he thought he'd have an easier time making the team. However, I do wonder about what the previous poster was saying. By most considerations, the Calgary Flames have a top five prospect system in the league. For a young player, is it better to be on a team like that or on a contending team that has a much better line-up at the NHL level but might be quite thin in their prospect base? I think of a player like Knight who was super happy to come to Calgary and have a "good chance to make the team". How likely does that appear now? It seems to me that Knight has a lot of other prospects to pass over to make the team, even though the players at the NHL level are some of the poorest in the league. At what point does a re-building team stop becoming a good place for a prospect because of the number of players in the same boat that they have to contend with?

[darthma]

Originally Posted by fotze

Didn't he take a dump in a stairwell when hammered and get suspended at BC?

Maybe he was inspired by Theo's jaunt in New York.



Kevin Hayes: A closer look at the poop heard 'round the world
http://www.stanleycupofchowder.com/2...problems-bu-bc

In reading that, it looks like the story (written by someone who bought the blogspace from the owner for $50) was based off of a comment in the comment section of BC Interruption on a 3 game suspension. So... the credibility is a little iffy. But I'm late too this party, and maybe there's other evidence corroborating this claim.

[sureLoss]

From Kevin Weekes twitter feed it sounds like the Rangers are planning on using Hayes as a centre.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by madmike

I think the Flames just had too many good prospects on the wing for Hayes to want to play in Calgary. The Rangers' prospect pool is much thinner so it makes good sense for him to go there.

A free prospect would have been nice, but I think he would have had a tough time making the Flames' NHL roster - now and in the future.

LOL Flames coloured Glasses.

If Hayes had signed with the Flames he would been the #1 or #2 RW prospect in the system. The Flames are probably looking a converting a couple of prosepcts to RW but none would be ahead of Hayes.

Of every team in the league the Flames are probably the most likely to give at least one or two RW prospects a chance in the NHL over the next two seasons, given their terrible NHL depth at that position. If NHL opportunity was Hayes #1 concern he would have signed here no question.

Obviously he has faith he can pass some players and make the NHL on any team, so he went with a competitive team closer to home. And anyone saying the Stanley Cup Finalists are not competitive, get a new hobby.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

We should change the tread title to:

[NEWS] Kevin Hayes sucks, and we never wanted him anyways

[Vinny01]

I am glad this has passed. I wanted him to sign here but not disappointed he chose elsewhere. Bring on the season already let's see what we have here.

Big year with the likes of Gaudreau, Baertschi, Granlund, Reinhart, Knight, Arnold, Porier, Ferland, Sieloff, Wortherspoon all looking to make the big club. Then there is top prospect Bennett who might impress too much to send back.

Exciting times for flames fans