If the New York Rangers are unwilling to sign Kevin Hayes to the five or six-year pact he is seeking between $5.5 and $6 million a season, they should act like he’s already played his final game as a Broadway Blueshirt. Over the weekend, Larry Brooks reported that the team appears ready to sign him to a one-year deal and flip him at the deadline before he heads to unrestricted free agency.
Assuming this is truly the case, general manager Jeff Gorton should just rip the band-aid off and be done with it.