Flyers trade Kevin Hayes to Blues in smaller deal than originally planned

After several days of trade buzz, the Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues finally pulled the trigger on a deal that will send forward Kevin Hayes to Missouri.

In exchange for Hayes, the Flyers are receiving a 2024 sixth-round draft pick from the Blues. Philadelphia is also retaining 50% of Hayes' salary for the remaining three years of his contract. As a result, the Blues will be on the hook for a $3.57-million cap hit, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.

The two teams were locked in trade discussions over the weekend, as a previous iteration of the deal was reported to also include Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim, Blues defenseman Torey Krug and possibly several draft picks. Those talks came to a halt when Krug reportedly declined to waive his no-trade clause for a move to Philadelphia.

Hayes was named an All-Star for the first time in 2022-23 and recorded 18 goals and 36 assists over 81 games. The 31-year-old is in the middle of a seven-year, $50-million contract he signed with Philadelphia in 2019.

The Massachusetts native was originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks 24th overall in 2010. He has nine NHL seasons under his belt, during which he's ammassed 386 points (155 goals, 231 assists) in 634 career regular-season games.

Philadelphia has been busy so far this offseason, already completing a complicated three-way trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Los Angeles Kings that sent defenseman Ivan Provorov to Columbus. The Flyers landed goaltender Cal Petersen, defenseman Sean Walker and prospect Helge Grans in that transaction, while also accumulating a first-round pick and two second-rounders.

The Flyers are also currently linked to the Carolina Hurricanes in trade talks around polarizing defenseman Tony DeAngelo. The NHL reportedly took issue with DeAngelo returning to Carolina less than a year after being traded to Philadelphia, so that potential deal appears to be in a holding pattern.