Philadelphia Flyers
Report: Flyers, Kevin Hayes Could be Headed for Buyout
Kevin Hayes has been the Philadelphia Flyers’ most productive offensive player with 29 points in 31 games. But three benchings, and coach John Tortorella’s complaints about his defense and play without the puck have stirred trade rumors.
The winger/center has a limited no-trade clause.
There is also speculation that the Flyers will buy out the final three years of his Hayes’ contract.
On his “32 Thoughts” podcast Monday, the highly respected Elliotte Friedman said: “I’m sure in Tortorella’s eyes, he says, ‘I’ve warned you, I’ve warned you, and it didn’t get any better.’ And Hayes I’m sure is saying, ‘Look, I’m scoring. This team isn’t winning games. How does it help the team (to bench him?’) He’s like any other player. He doesn’t want to get benched.”
Said Friedman: “I looked at Hayes’ contract. In his deal, there’s about 14 million in bonuses. Almost all of that is paid off. … I have to tell you, I can’t help but look at this contract and say, is this going to be a buyout at the end of the year? At the end of the year if he gets bought out, he’ll make slightly more that 2 million a season on average.”
The $ numbers
If the Philadelphia Flyers bought out Hayes’ final three years, it would be spread out over six years. According to CapFriendly, they would absorb a cap hit of $2.25 million next year, followed by cap hits of $4.75 million in each of the next two years, and cap hits of $1.6 million over each of the final three years.
Hayes’ current cap hit is $7.1 million.
Friedman said he wants to be “supportive” of Hayes because of all he has endured over the last year. He was referring to his brother’s tragic death.
He noted, however, that reality may cause a split between him and the Philadelphia Flyers.
“If this is a marriage that’s not going to work, maybe this is the solution where he gets bought out and starts somewhere else,” Friedman said.
Hayes was a healthy scratch as the Flyers lost to the Rangers on Saturday, 6-3.
At Monday’s practice in Voorhees, Hayes was the left winger on a line with Scott Laughton and Zack MacEwen.
The Philadelphia Flyers (10-15-7) host Johnny Gaudreau and the Columbus Blue Jackets (10-18-2) on Tuesday. The Blue Jackets are in the eighth and final spot in the Metropolitan Division; the Flyers are in seventh place.
The Jackets won two earlier-season games against Philly in Columbus, 5-2, and 5-4, in overtime.
This is unbelievable. No Coots. No Atkinson. No Ellis. JVR on the trading block and Hayes possibly bought out. Wow… this team will be loaded with talent…. NOT!
I hope Comcast offloads the team. Stealing from fans since start of ownership. Comcast sucks, as every Philly fan ( and customer) knows. No more of the mentality of draw in the fans, take their money then give them a crap product wrapped in a bunch of BS propaganda. Just like their cable services. Sell the team to an owner that will give the fans what they deserve forv the hard earned $ they spend
By the way, sorry to say this but butterfly boy in net ain’t the answer. Butterfly down ,shoot high; recipe for winning against the esteemed savior CH. Bad ownership, iffy goalie forget it! But for dome reason. I still watch the games.
Thanks Comcast for absolutely NOTHING
Tortorella is a straight up asshole. He has this power trip. He is constantly benching productive players. Plenty of documented interviews with former players saying the same thing. All the fans and media thinking this guy was going to “light a fire” under their asses, has been wrong. He is just toxic and only the media actually likes him because he gives them all their sound bites as he continues to throw young talent under the bus. How about coaching them? He is supposed to be this defensive genius, but he can’t even teach them to break out of their own zone. I knew Trotz wasn’t interested in coming to Philly, but I wanted anyone else besides this clown.
All i can say is its about time. This Hockey Club needs to be taken down to the studs and completely rebuilt from the Blue Line out. In fact; the process should have started 2 Seasons ago. NEVER thought id see Philadelpias most sucessful Sports Organization in this bad of shape. After Chuckles the Clown is axed; the next GM has one hell of a mess to clean up. Its going to be a long process. BTW; when i watched the Flyers at Home the other night; i noticed ALOT of empty seats at the Wells Fargo. Good job; Chuckles and Front Office.
Hayes was brought here to score. He is doing that! Tort is a narcissist who won’t be happy until he completely destroys this team. Fire Tort and Fletcher Make Danny B the GM since he’s being groomed for that and Tocchet to be the head coach. Let’s get an identity back. Make a Captain and maybe we’ll see some more wins! I think tort secretly hates the Flyers because it the only way this could possibly make any sense!