The contract talks, not surprisingly, have gone nowhere. Hence, Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes will be going somewhere by Monday. Until they do, they have played their last games. Or at least, that’s the call management should make prior to Thursday’s match at the Garden against the free-falling Wild.
It wasn’t necessarily the money, but rather the contract length asks that turned the negotiations with the players’ agents into non-starters, The Post has learned. Not only are extensions effectively off the table, the prospect of July 1 free-agent reunions are most unrealistic. When Zuccarello and Hayes go, you should expect them to stay gone.