With Mats Zuccarello dealt, Kevin Hayes was the next to go. It appears that a deal is in place. Rumors of interest from Nashville and Calgary and Winnipeg created a possible bidding war that looks to have been won by the Jets as reported by Bob McKenzie while Pierre LeBrun reports no salary retained by the Rangers and Craig Custance notes that the conditional pick, which would be a fourth-rounder in 2022, is dependent on Winnipeg winning the Cup. I wonder if the lack of conditions if he re-signs means that the Jets feel they are unlikely to ink him after the season or they do plan to and didn't want to pay for that possibility.
This potential WPG-NYR deal is WPG 2019 first-round pick, Brendan Lemieux and a conditional pick in exchange for Kevin Hayes. Believe an agreement is in place but trade call not set yet.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 25, 2019
Told no salary retained in the Kevin Hayes deal so Winnipeg taking Hayes salary full-on
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 25, 2019
Conditional pick in Jets/Hayes deal is contingent on Winnipeg winning the Cup.
— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) February 25, 2019
Lemieux is an agitative winger, similar to his father Claude, but less talented offensively. He showed some scoring talent in the AHL but has yet to display that in the NHL. Lemiuex projects to be a possible third line winger who could get 15-20 goals annually. i preferred some of the other prospects in the system, cognizant that Kristian Veselainen was pipe dream. Mason Aplleton, Sami Niku (likely pipezream as well) and others such as David Gustaffson (as suggested on twitter) were of my interest to me. But Lemiuex brings a physical presence that should play well on Broadway, presuming he remains there and isn't flipped.
Dan Rosen's view:
If it's Kevin Hayes to Winnipeg, that's a great get for the Jets. If it's a 1st-round pick, Brendan Lemieux and a conditional pick coming back to the Rangers, that's about the right return, if not maybe a bit more than I thought. The Jets should be thrilled w/a motivated Hayes.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) February 25, 2019
I made my view of wanting Hayes locked up well-known. My preference was to have him as the second line center for years to come, a move that could have occurred last off-season when a five-year deal was likely possible at a reasonable rate. Larry Brooks shared this view, throwing shade on the Rangers' deal, which is not surprising.
As previously suggested by friends to the north, appears as if Hayes is en route to Winnipeg for probably not enough to justify trading team's second-best (to Zibanejad) player last two years rather than locking him up earlier.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) February 25, 2019
Hayes on TSN:
Kevin Hayes on TSN: “I’m excited to get to Winnipeg. It’s been pretty crazy. I knew I was going to get traded a week ago. Saying goodbye to the guys was emotional. I’ve built some great relationships in New York the last five years.… #NYR #GoJetsGo
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) February 25, 2019
Good look at all the ins and outs the past two seasons. New York now has two 1sts and three 2nds (I believe two can become 1sts, Tampa and Dallas) in the 2019 draft:
Updated (w/ correct footnotes) pic.twitter.com/IMGIrslWxJ
— Fitz (@FitzGSN_) February 25, 2019