Kevin Hayes

Kevin Patrick Hayes (born May 8, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey player for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Hayes got his start playing in the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament, representing South Shore in 2004 and 2005.

He has said of the experience, "I thought it was just another fun tournament—you go to Canada with your family and play a lot of hockey, and go play in the snow and stuff."

Hayes' South Shore teammates included future NHL players Noel Acciari, Chris Wagner, and Charlie Coyle.

He played high school hockey at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts, scoring 67 points in 28 games in the 2009–10 season, and was selected to participate in the 2010 U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp.

Growing up in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Hayes played hockey for the Noble and Greenough School before being drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round, 24th overall, of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Hayes chose to defer his professional career and followed his older brother Jimmy, playing four seasons with the Boston College Eagles.

In his senior year, Hayes was selected for the All-Hockey East First Team and AHCA East First-Team All-American as a result of his play.

The Chicago Blackhawks chose Hayes in the first round, 24th overall, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but he chose to attend Boston College, which had recruited Jimmy a few years before.

After scoring one goal and two assists in an exhibition game against the University of Toronto, Hayes recorded his first NCAA career point on October 15, 2010, in a 6–2 win over the Denver Pioneers.

He sat out the second half of the 2010–11 season because of a posterior cruciate ligament injury, and finished with 14 points in 31 games.

Hayes returned to the Eagles for a modest but successful 2011–12 season.

He had an assist against the Air Force Falcons in the Northeast Regional semifinals of the 2012 NCAA Tournament, and scored a goal against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the national semifinals.

Boston College won the NCAA tournament, and Hayes finished the season with 28 points.

Despite recording six goals and 19 assists, Hayes had a beleaguered 2012–13 season.

After recording 24 points with the Eagles, he received a suspension for a violation of team rules.

Eagles head coach Jerry York said the duration of the suspension would depend on how Hayes responded.

Then, in a February 26, 2013 match against UMass Lowell River Hawks, Hayes sustained an injury to a leg and lost consciousness in the locker room.

He was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with compartment syndrome.

He underwent four emergency surgeries on his left quadriceps femoris muscle and was hospitalized for 22 days.

Hayes was told that his condition had been two hours from amputation had he not been treated, and there was doubt whether he would be able to return to hockey.

When he was allowed to return to play, Hayes' experience with compartment syndrome changed his outlook on hockey.

He told the Boston Herald, "I think I always knew how important the game was to me, but I think I had to somewhat grow up a bit and take my body serious, take my school serious, take my strength and conditioning serious, and just a mixture of those three kind of allowed me to be the player I am today."

Hayes returned his senior year on the Eagles' top line with Bill Arnold and Johnny Gaudreau, scoring 65 points (27 goals and 38 assists) in the 2013–14 NCAA season, and ending the season with 1.62 points per game, the second-highest in the country.

Following his tenure at Boston College, Hayes signed his first professional contract with the New York Rangers in 2014 instead of the Blackhawks.

Hayes was named the MVP of the 2014 Beanpot tournament and selected for the AHCA East First-Team All-American.

Hayes and the Blackhawks could not agree on a contract by the August 15 NHL deadline for college graduates, and Hayes became an unrestricted free agent in 2014.

Less than a week later, the New York Rangers signed him to an entry-level contract with a base salary of $925,000 per season at the NHL level.

After signing his contract, Hayes attended the Rangers' 2014 training camp prior to the 2014–15 season.

He made his NHL debut with the Rangers on October 12, 2014, in a home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, playing alongside Carl Hagelin and J. T. Miller.

He finished his debut with 14:17 of ice time in 19 shifts and a plus-minus of negative two.

A few games later, while centering a line with Rick Nash and former Boston College teammate, Chris Kreider, Hayes scored his first career NHL goal against the San Jose Sharks.

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, received a second-round compensatory pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, which eventually was used to select Graham Knott.

Blackhawks' assistant general manager Norm Maciver called it "disappointing" Hayes chose not to sign with them saying the situation inspired the organization to become more aggressive about signing future draft picks like Michael Paliotta.

He finished the regular season ranking fifth among all league rookies in both points and assists as the Rangers qualified for the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs.

In the playoffs, Hayes tied for third among all rookies in points and tied for second with five assists.

His first postseason goal was an overtime game winner in game four to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins and give them a 3–1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series.

After finishing the 2018–19 NHL season with the Jets, the Flyers acquired Hayes on a seven-year, $50 million contract in 2019.

In the first year of his new contract, Hayes was the recipient of the teams' Gene Hart Memorial Award as the player who displays the most "heart".

He played five seasons in New York before being traded to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Brendan Lemieux and two picks in the 2019 draft.