The St. Louis Blues acquired veteran center Kevin Hayes from the Philadephia Flyers last summer. In the deal, they sacrificed a sixth-round pick in the 2024 Draft, while the Flyers retained 50 percent of his $7.1 million salary cap hit for the final three seasons of his deal. It was time for Hayes and the Flyers to part ways, so the Blues didn’t give up much to bring him in. It hasn’t gone exactly the way either side could have expected in St. Louis, but there is still time to figure things out. Let’s get into Hayes’ first season as a Blue and how the club can utilize him moving forward.
Hayes Has Struggled to Score Goals
There is no hiding the lack of goal-scoring for Hayes this season. The Blues as a team have had a problem consistently scoring goals all season. While no one expected him to light the league on fire, it would be ideal for him to be closer to 20 goals than 10 right now.
In 61 games this season, Hayes has scored 11 goals and just ended a 19-game goal-scoring drought with a marker in his return to Philadelphia. He had a plus/minus of minus-6 and two assists throughout the drought. The only area of his game that has improved significantly from previous seasons is faceoffs, where has won over 56 percent of them. He has never reached 51 percent or better over a full season in the faceoff circle. Either way, his lack of goals scored is tough and I’m sure quite frustrating for him.
| Season | Goals Scored | Goals Per Game |
| 2021-22 (Flyers) | 10 (48 games) | 0.21 |
| 2022-23 (Flyers) | 18 (81 games) | 0.22 |
| 2023-24 (Blues) | 11 (61 games) | 0.17 |
Source: Hockey Reference
There’s still hope that Hayes can score nine goals over the next 21 games to reach 20 for the season, but his lack of consistency could crush that. One other issue is his complete lack of scoring on the power play. He had six power-play goals last season for the Flyers but hasn’t even scored one this season for the Blues. Even with the team’s improvement on the power play under interim head coach Drew Bannister, it hasn’t carried over to Hayes in this area. He has never gone a full season without a power play goal, so I suspect he’ll find the net on the man advantage before the season concludes. Either way, the Blues need more offensive production from Hayes for the rest of this season and beyond.
How Blues Should Use Hayes Moving Forward
I don’t think Hayes will be traded at the 2024 trade deadline but never say never. His cap hit isn’t bad with the Flyers taking on 50 percent of it, but the term that runs through the 2025-26 season is a problem. It would be a surprise if he has real trade value within the market. I don’t suspect general manager Doug Armstrong will be actively shopping him. With him counting just above $3.5 million on the Blues’ cap table, Hayes as the third-line center is fine if he’s performing at a more consistent level.
The disdain for him by fans has overshadowed the struggles of another Blues center, and that is captain Brayden Schenn. Both Hayes and Schenn have struggled to serve as middle-six centers and have been well below the level of top-line center Robert Thomas.
Related: Doug Armstrong’s Moves That Haven’t Succeeded for the Blues
With where the Blues are at right now, it would be wise to trust the process. They should keep Hayes on the third line and continue to let him try to figure things out at even strength and on the power play. It might not be the most popular thing to do, but Armstrong has put himself in a spot where Hayes being a part of the future over the next two and a half seasons is likely. It hasn’t been a great first season dawning the blue note, but the club could be worse off than having him as their third-line center for under $4 million.
