CALGARY — Kevin Hayes has been with the Penguins for precisely four months.
He made an impression on the organization long before — and still is.
A handful of games into his Penguins’ tenure, Hayes is doing the job and then some. The veteran, playing primarily at fourth-line center this season, has scored three goals, aided the second power-play unit and been strong defensively. Hayes’ offensive acumen has not gone unnoticed.
It’s been a luxury.
“It’s been really helpful in the early part of this season,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He has the ability to finish and he’s just a very opportunistic player.”
Hayes played yet another strong game against the Flames on Tuesday. He assisted on Rickard Rakell’s goal and was on the ice for Noel Acciari’s third-period goal.
Sullivan has long been a fan of his fellow Boston native’s ability. And he’s not the only one.
Drew O’Connor, one of the Penguins’ best players this season, was delighted when the Penguins acquired Hayes from the St. Louis Blues on the second day of this year’s NHL Draft in Las Vegas.
For many years, O’Connor has studied the veteran.
“I’ve always been impressed with his game, honestly,” O’Connor said.
While Hayes is not one of the NHL’s better skaters, he’s big, with good vision and touch and a knack for being in the right place at the right time.
“I love his patience,” O’Connor said. “I love the way he holds onto pucks, his patience, his poise with the puck.”
Hayes, in his 11th NHL season, has 171 career goals and has twice exceeded the 20-goal barrier. While he may not be the same as when he was an impactful member of the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers, he’s been quite effective in the early going.
The Penguins are happy to have him.
Even though he was a positive for the Penguins on Tuesday, Hayes was in no mood to congratulate himself after the team’s shootout loss against the Flames.
“I just want to help us win games,” he said. “I’ve been out there for too many goals against this season. Just trying to work on my game in the D-zone.”
Stylistically, Hayes doesn’t operate like a typical bottom-six player, which might be because he’s been a top-six player most of his NHL career.
On the radio on Tuesday night, Penguins general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas went out of his way to praise Hayes.
“I do think we can help bring more out of him as the year goes on,” Dubas said. “To find that form that made him an All-Star.”
Like O’Connor and Sullivan, Dubas notes Hayes’ patience with the puck.
“You can trust him defensively, and he’s really intelligent,” Dubas said. “So, I think the coaching staff has been on him in practice to push himself, push the pace, to dial that up a little bit more — and I think he’s someone who’s able to convert a little bit more when he’s had scoring opportunities. We need those type of contributions in our lineup.”
The name of the game these days in the NHL is speed, but Hayes sometimes slows the game down to a crawl. That’s not a bad thing. He’s adept at slowing the pace to his liking, then finding the open man.
“Offensively, he sees it and thinks it really well,” Sullivan said. “He has the ability to finish. I just think his hockey IQ is high. Because of that, he gets himself to the right areas. That’s what I mean when I say I call him opportunistic. He’s good at finding (open) ice.”
The Penguins, without question, have many questions that need to be answered. In particular, their defense has been horrific for most of October. Their goaltending will continue to generate headlines because their No. 3 has been Tristan Jarry, who is supposed to be their No. 1 and who makes more than $5 million annually.
There haven’t been any issues on the bottom six, though. The third and fourth lines have been solid defensively and, in Hayes and Lars Eller (four goals), offensively have been showing up.
“He’s been a really good addition for us,” O’Connor said of Hayes.
The trade in June was fairly surprising. Dubas had consistently said all offseason that the Penguins were looking for younger and faster players.
Hayes is not young. He is not fast.
Yet the trade appears to be paying off. Hayes is glad to be with the Penguins and for more positive performances to come.
“I am happy with where my game is right now,” he said.
Notes
• The Penguins did not practice on Wednesday and remained in Calgary for their off day. They made the quick flight to Edmonton on Thursday morning and are scheduled to practice at Rogers Place in the afternoon and take on Connor McDavid and the Oilers at 9 p.m. ET Friday.
• The Penguins have lost their past six games against the Oilers and have been outscored in those games by a whopping 33-9 margin.
(Photo: Claus Andersen / Getty Images)
