NHL Trade: The Philadelphia Flyers trade Kevin Hayes to the St. Louis Blues

Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The Philadelphia Flyers have traded forward Kevin Hayes to the St. Louis Blues for a 2024 6th round pick.

The Flyers are retaining 50% of Hayes salary – $3,571,429 for three years.

Jeremy Rutherford: Hayes’ agent Bob Murray: “It’s been stressful for Kev. He really liked Philadelphia, he liked the city, he liked his teammates … everything was good until December-ish when things started to go the other way. It’s been a difficult, stressful time for him.”

Thoughts from the media

Anthony Mingioni: “In and of itself, not a good deal and the 50% retention is going to be an obstacle for a few seasons. But suspect there will be more deals in the offing that might offer much better value in return.”

Charlie O’Connor: “Do I like today’s trade for the Flyers? I don’t know how anyone could like when you give up a useful player, retain 50% salary for 3 years, and get only a 6th rounder in return. That said, they pretty much had to move on from him. It wasn’t gonna work between he & Torts. Period.”

Andy Strickland: “Kevin Hayes, adds legit depth to the #stlblues center grouping. Adds some size and will take some pressure off of Robert Thomas with Hayes ability and experience of going head to head against top players”

Jordan Hall: “Shame how it ended for Kevin Hayes in Philly. It got decided he no longer fit with Flyers despite him being an All-Star. He has been through a lot. You can see why has so much perspective on being a quality person first. Has been an absolute pro since Day 1. All the best.”

Bill Meltzer: “Ultimately, though, the Hayes trade likely WON’T be the only trade. The Flyers helped their ability to make other trade(s), which is how I’m viewing it rather than the knee-jerk reaction. See what other move(s) get made and it may look better and make more sense.”