Finally: Flyers Trade Kevin Hayes To Blues For Sixth-Round Pick

The Philadelphia Flyers finally traded Kevin Hayes.

The team announced the deal Tuesday that sent Hayes to St. Louis for a 2024 sixth-round draft pick. The Flyers will retain half of Hayes’ $7.1 million annual salary for the remaining three years of his Flyers’ deal.

Hayes, 31, was part of a reported package deal that was to include Travis Sanheim for one of the Blues’ first-round picks and defenseman Torey Krug. The deal snagged when Krug reportedly refused to waive his no-trade clause.

The Flyers tried to get another team involved in the deal, a team for which Krug would play, but that did not work. Trading Hayes seemed inevitable as the team’s goal was to get younger and acquire draft picks. The trade comes days after general manager Daniel Briere said Hayes still had value to the team and would be difficult to replace.

Hayes, 31, played 253 games with the Philadelphia Flyers over four seasons. He scored 63 goals and 94 assists for 157 points. This past season Hayes set career-highs for games played (81), assists (36), power-play points (16) and shots (209).

The Flyers acquired Hayes in June 2019 from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2019 draft. Hayes signed a seven-year, $50 million deal with the Flyers in 2019.

The Hayes trade is Briere’s second big move in the team’s rebuild. Defenseman Ivan Provorov was traded to Columbus earlier in June.

The NHL Draft begins Wednesday in Nashville. The Flyers hold 10 draft picks including the 7 and 22 overall picks.