Penguins’ Kevin Hayes Searching for a Role; Using Trade as ‘Motivation’

New Pittsburgh Penguins forward Kevin Hayes is searching for a role.

Ready to join his third team in three seasons, the 32-year-old Hayes admitted he didn’t find a role or comfort last season with the St. Louis Blues, and the season before that, he didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella.

The last few seasons have been a bit of a wild ride for 6-foot-5 Hayes. The Philadelphia Flyers dished that huge seven-year $50 million contract in 2019, the public friction with Tortorella, the salary-dump trade to the St. Louis Blues, and then the same type of trade to the Penguins on Day 2 of the 2024 NHL Draft.

St. Louis had to attach a 2025 second-round pick for Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas to agree to the trade; in the process, the Penguins spent about half of their available salary cap space to get that coveted second-round pick, and with Hayes.

Even the St. Louis trade call from St. Louis president of hockey operations/GM Doug Armstrong sounded brusque.

“Pretty quick phone call. He said I traded your contract to Pittsburgh,” Hayes said. “And then I heard from Kyle Dubas, and I heard from (coach Mike Sullivan), (assistant coach David Quinn) and coach Vellucci. I’m very excited to get back into the Metro.”

Last season, Hayes had a split decision with his statistics. He registered a career-low 29 points playing a primarily defensive role in only 14:29 minutes of ice time per game but also won a career-high 57% of his faceoffs. However, Hayes freely admitted he didn’t fit with St. Louis.

After an unceremonious ending in Philadelphia, it sounds like he didn’t fit under the Arch, not even a little bit.

“I felt like last year I couldn’t really find a role in St. Louis, and I didn’t play my best hockey. So, (I’m) eager to get the season started, to kind of show that I can still play in this league and be part of a winning team,” said Hayes. “I haven’t really talked to the coaches about a specific role. They have some great players in this lineup, so no matter who I’m playing with, I’m going to be excited. I still think I can produce in this league.”

Some people might get offended by being shuffled around like a bad used car, quickly dropped on the next buyer, but Hayes had a different spin on the frequent flyer miles.

“I just didn’t really fit into their plan, I guess. It’s definitely an ego shock when you go on two teams in two years,” Hayes said. “(I’m) a pretty confident person. I’ve been in the league for a pretty long time. I’ve had successful seasons. I know what I need to do to make sure my game works in this league, and I think I’ll have a good opportunity in Pittsburgh to do that. I think instead of it being an ego shot, I’ll use it more as motivation to show those two teams that I can still play and produce in this league.”

In 10 NHL seasons, Hayes has played 713 games, scoring 168 goals, registering 415 points.

Hayes will contribute just over $3.5 million to the Penguins’ salary cap space, as Philadelphia is still paying the other half of his $7,142,857 salary for the next two seasons. The first steps to re-establishing his career as a solid middle-six center will begin with Sullivan.

Hayes admitted several times during a short chat with Pittsburgh media, including Pittsburgh Hockey Now, that he didn’t find a role with St. Louis. Part of that was not being trusted or utilized by coach Craig Berube or Drew Bannister, who replaced Berube in December.

Make no mistake: Despite Hayes’s size (6-foot-5, 216 pounds), he’s not a physical player. He hasn’t ever registered more than 88 hits in a season, and last season, he delivered just 42 hits and 17 blocked shots as his penalty kill time was also taken away. He’s primarily a center, and that’s how Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas projects him with the Penguins, too.

Dubas didn’t hedge with PHN when we asked him about it last month. Now it’s up to Hayes to deliver for the retooling Penguins.

“In order for me to kind of get back to where I think I should be in this league, (it’s) just building the right relationship with the coach, gaining trust from the coach, and being able to play in all situations,” Hayes asserted. “And I think the style of player that I have (been) is that I was a pass-first kind of player. I kind of want to switch to having a little bit more of a shooting mentality, but I try to make the players that I play with a little bit better. And I think the opportunity in Pittsburgh will allow that.”

On the upside, Hayes had a sparkling start to the 2022-23 NHL season. He was an All-Star and scored 18 goals with 54 points. However, that was also where the trouble with Tortorella started.

The Penguins already have a glut of bottom-six centers, including Lars Eller, Blake Lizotte, and Noel Acciari. Only Acciari is right-handed, so Dubas has more trade chips with which to acquire more young players and draft picks, though the Penguins organization might show a little more warmth to Hayes than St. Louis.

After beginning his career with the York Rangers, they dealt him at the trade deadline in 2019 to the Winnipeg Jets. He played only 20 games with Winnipeg before signing with Philadelphia.

Hayes isn’t the first member of his family to play in the Penguins organization. His brother Jimmy was a popular teammate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during his final professional season. The older Hayes played 334 NHL games before finishing his career in 2018-19 with the WBS Penguins of the AHL. He tragically passed away two years later at the age of 31 due to a drug overdose.