The Boston Bruins have ended their relatively successful season in a rather disappointing way. The Bruins lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to the St. Louis Blues. Are changes incoming for Boston?
Recent reports suggest that the Bruins might be interested in free agent forward Kevin Hayes. And the interest is believed to be mutual.
Source: mutual interest between Kevin Hayes and Bruins https://t.co/i7SL8ouLQn
— Adrian Dater (@adater) June 15, 2019
Kevin Hayes is a Boston, Massachusetts native, who is the brother of former Bruin Jimmy Hayes. Kevin, Jimmy’s younger brother, is a better player though, which isn’t exactly hard to do.
This past season, spent with the New York Rangers and the Winnipeg Jets, Hayes collected 55 points in 71 regular season games and then three additional points in six postseason contests. He was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers a few days ago, but he may wind up not signing there.
Where would the Bruins make that reported $7 million salary cap space to sign Hayes? Per same source, the Bruins are listening on potential David Krejci trade packages.
Hayes is a center, but he is 27 years old, six years younger than Krejci, who will be unrestricted free agent in two years as a 35-year-old. The move would make sense for the Bruins. Hayes would practically become the new Krejci, based both on the salary cap hit and second line center role.
Whether this move would be real for the Bruins is still undetermined, as David Krejci has registered 73 points in the past regular season and 16 points in 24 playoff games. He was still valuable and finally healthy. In addition, he does have a no-trade clause. Still, this bears watching as the offseason begins.
