Eklund wrote yesterday that Arizona, Boston, Calgary, Colorado, Detroit, Florida (despite insistence to the contrary), Montreal, New Jersey, both New York teams, Ottawa and Philadelphia are among the teams putting in bids on Kevin Hayes now that he became a free agent after not signing with Chicago on Friday. Mark Divvir of the Providence Journal reported Saturday that Hayes will spend Sunday narrowing down his list of NHL suitors, then speak to four or five Monday. For purposes of this blog, all Rangers' fans are concerned with is if Hayes will have the Blueshirts as one of those 4-5 teams?
Hayes probably has three aspects he is evaluating with his decision: Role, Salary and Potential for Team Success.
For the first one, it has been widely reported he wants a top-six role wherever he lands, though it's possible that if aspects two and three are solid, he might change his mind. In addition, a top-nine role whereby the ice time is close to what he would see on a second line also could factor into his view.
For the second, it's unknown what he expects to get, but you have to presume it's above the usual Entry Level Contract, meaning more than $850-900k annually.
The last point is unclear. If success was that important, he easily could have just signed with Chicago, who are poised for current and future success. By his opting out, you have to believe that team success, while important, is not his top priority, which would either be one or two on the list I just gave. Of course, the counter-argument to that is even though the Blackhawks afford him a shot at the Cup, family feelings outweigh that, as they should, and Hayes was unable to look past what he felt was subpar treatment by Chicago of his brother.
If points one and two are the most important and not three, where is he likely to land? As Glen wrote, the popular opinion has either Florida, due to the presence of his brother, and Calgary, who have two of his former BC teammates, including Johnny Gaudreau, as the leading candidates to land him.
For NY to have a shot:
1. Sather has to point out there is a possible role in the top-six, or at worst, top-nine, playing center or wing alongside Carl Hagelin and possibly JT Miller for a young line that has the opportunity to grow together. In addition, with Alain Vigneault's use of four lines, skating on the third line is like the second elsewhere, since he will see quality minutes.
2. Play up the fact that Chris Kreider, another former BC teammate of Hayes is playing and now thriving in New York. However, as you see below, how do you fit him in cap wise, unless money is less than a factor than we all think and he signs for around the ELC. Even if that is the case, the Rangers would still be in a major cap crunch if he does sign with the team.
3. I would say emphasize the Cup Finals run and the fact that New York is an Original Six team, but only if you believe that possible team success is still a major component of his decision-making process, This means that you need to believe Hayes opted out of signing with Chicago mainly due to potential role and treatment of his brother.
4. Signing Hayes would I believe put the Rangers at 50 contracts, even before John Moore is re-signed, meaning someone who was added this off-season or already on roster would have to go. There is a decent number of candidates, but it calls into question why some were added initially.
Below is a culled down version of what I wrote on July 17, removing some of the possible reasons to sign Hayes, since they are noted above, with updates in parenthesis. Underneath that is the Rangers current cap position and how/if Hayes could fit in, presuming the Rangers make his short list.
Brooks wrote this morning (July 17) that Rangers may have interest in Hayes, who was selected 24th overall by the Blackhawks in 2010 but has yet to come to terms. If he does not sign by midnight, August 15, he will become a free agent and have several suitors (which came to fruition). The Rangers, who have supplemented their roster with several college free agents signings lately, largely due to trading first round picks recently away for Nash, MSL etc., are expected to have strong interest in Hayes.
New York added Ryan Haggerty, Mat Bodie and Chris McCarthy as free agents last year following their college campaigns. Hayes, who is 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, left-handed shooting right wing and played at BC, scored 27 goals and 38 assists while playing on a line with Gautreau. He is likely looking for a team where he could immediately step into the lineup. Brooks added that if he was available for this year's draft, Hayes would have gone between 15 and 25, in what was viewed as a weak draft class.
Projected Lineup with Salaries and Remaining Cap Space:
As you see below, NY has about $1.9 million in cap room, but still have to sign John Moore. Let's say Moore costs around $900k, that leaves $1 mil remaining. The first question is do think $1 Mil will be enough to sign Hayes? If so, then are you comfortable with in essence only about $600k in cap room, because adding Hayes likely means Mueller ends up in the minors, taking his 600k off the cap but adding in whatever Hayes makes. I doubt that will be sufficient since Hayes could get a lot more from teams with plenty of cap room, so the only way New York could get him to Broadway is selling him on points 1-3 above. However, that looks to be a long-shot, though we will know either later today or tomorrow if New York even made the short list of 4-5. If that happens, then you might pull out the full court press to woo him to the Rangers.
Forwards:
Kreider ($2.475) - Stepan ($3.075) - Nash ($7.8)
Zuccarello ($3.5) - Brassard ($5.0) - MSL ($5.625)
Hagelin ($2.25) - Miller ($894k) - Lombardi ($800k)
Stempniak ($900k) - D. Moore ($1.5) - Glass ($1.45)
Defensemen:
Girardi ($5.5) - McDonagh ($4.7)
Boyle ($4.5) - Staal ($3.975)
J. Moore (xx) - Klein ($2.9)
Goalies:
Lundqvist ($8.5)
Talbot ($562,500)
Bench:
Mueller ($600k) and Kostka ($650k)
Total cap space: $69,000,000
Total cap space utilized $67,106,667
Total cap space remaining $ 1,893,333
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