Winnipeg Jets make all-in move to get Kevin Hayes from Rangers
As they look to bolster their standing and get ready for a playoff run, the Winnipeg Jets have added center Kevin Hayes.
The Winnipeg Jets (3-5-2 in their last 10 games) are clinging to the lead in the Central Division, one point ahead of the Nashville Predators. After a run to the Western Conference Finals last year the Jets have made a big move on trade deadline day, getting center Kevin Hayes from the New York Rangers.
The Jets will send forward Brendan Lemieux, a 2019 first-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2022 to New York for Hayes, who has 42 points (14 goals and 28 assists) in 51 games this season. As the Rangers shifted into sell-mode, Hayes was one of their most prominent trade deadline chips in the final year of his contract.
Hayes will slot right in as Winnipeg’s second-line center, with Patrik Laine (three goals in the last two games) on one of his wings. Bryan Little and his 39 points (fifth on the team, 14 goals and 25 assists) will shift to the third line.
The Jets would be the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference if the playoff started today, but as mentioned that spot atop the Central division is tenuous. Falling to second in the division would not necessarily bring a tougher playoff matchup, against the St. Louis Blues as opposed to the Dallas Stars if they won the division and the playoffs started today, but Winnipeg is a Stanley Cup contender that has looked vulnerable lately.
Winnipeg is a top-10 scoring team (3.35 goals per game; sixth in the league), with the fourth-best power play in the NHL to boot (25.3 percent). But there’s a case for never having enough scoring or depth, as evidenced by Pittsburgh’s now injury-hampered blue line.
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With Laine, winger Kyle Connor and defenseman Jacob Trouba headed for restricted free agency, Hayes is probably only a rental for Winnipeg. But he makes their top-six forwards more dangerous, while allowing Little to move down and make the top-nine better, so among the all-in moves that will be made in this trade deadline cycle the Jets adding Hayes stands to be among the best.