The Flyers are reportedly looking to send Kevin Hayes to the Blues despite complications in negotiations.
The Flyers are reportedly looking to send Kevin Hayes to the Blues despite complications in negotiations.
Danny Briere made it obvious after trading Ivan Provorov that the Philadelphia Flyers are "open for business" ahead of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.
Well, it turns out he certainly wasn't being facetious.
Saturday evening, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reported the Flyers were working on a trade with the St. Louis Blues that involved "several elements," including veteran forward Kevin Hayes.
However, the Flyers and Blues still have not reached an agreement due to a hiccup with one of the players apparently involved in the trade. That player is reportedly veteran defenseman Torey Krug, who is unwilling to waive the no-trade clause included in his contract.
Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic hinted as much Saturday night, and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported the same Sunday morning.
Now, TSN's Darren Dreger reports the original deal between the Flyers and Blues is all but "dead" as both teams look to take an alternative route.
As Rutherford reported Saturday night, the Flyers and Blues could be looking to get a third team involved in the obstructed deal with the goal of moving Krug to a preferable destination. For now, though, it's unclear what will come out of what was initially expected to be a blockbuster.
Still, it appears the Flyers are determined to move on from Hayes sooner rather than later.
The Flyers originally signed Hayes to a seven-year, $50 million contract after acquiring his rights from the Winnipeg Jets in 2019. Since then, Hayes has fallen out of favor with the Flyers after the hiring of head coach John Tortorella. The 31-year-old was scratched for a game back in December and saw his playing time dwindle as it became evident he didn't mesh with Tortorella's style of coaching.
With the Flyers now in the early stages of a rebuild, Hayes knew he was likely to be moved this offseason.
"It looks like the younger guys are playing. I don't know if they want a guy that's making the money that I'm making playing nine, 10 minutes a night," Hayes told the media during his end-of-season press conference.
"I don't make those decisions. They do. And I'm sure they have to make them pretty quickly. Draft's coming up."
Hayes has three years remaining on his contract, which carries an annual cap hit of $7,142,857. His contract also includes a 12-team no-trade clause.
Since joining the Flyers, Hayes has logged 63 goals and 157 total points in 253 games.
This is a developing story. Stay with The Hockey News for updates as they become available.