- Kevin Hayes signed a one-year deal with KHL club Ak Bars Kazan on Tuesday
- The 34-year-old center leaves the NHL with 446 points in 805 games
- Read below for Hayes on why he picked Kazan and what the Ak Bars GM said about him
Kevin Hayes is heading to Russia, and his wife is a big reason why.
The 34-year-old center signed a one-year contract with KHL club Ak Bars Kazan on Tuesday, closing out a 12-season NHL run. Hayes laid out his reasoning in the club’s announcement, and he did not skip the personal part.
“My wife is from Russia, and she always wanted me to play here. A new and interesting stage is beginning for our whole family, and we are very happy about it.”
Hayes hit unrestricted free agency on July 1, when the seven-year, $50 million deal he signed with the Flyers back in 2019 finally came off the books. No NHL team put anything in front of him this summer that stuck. Kazan did.
Ak Bars general manager Marat Valiullin talked about what sold the club, in quotes translated from its Russian-language release:
“Hayes is an experienced center who spent 12 seasons in the NHL and played leading roles on strong teams throughout his career. It was important to us that Hayes himself wanted to come to the KHL.”
He is walking into a real situation, not a rebuild. Kazan reached the Gagarin Cup Final last spring and lost to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in six games, and Hayes joins a lineup that already has former NHLers Grigori Denisenko, Sasha Chmelevski and Kirill Semyonov in it.
The Chicago Blackhawks took Hayes 24th overall in 2010 and never got him under contract. He stayed four years at Boston College, skating mostly alongside Johnny Gaudreau, then picked the Rangers as a college free agent in 2014.
What followed was five seasons on Broadway, a deadline trade to Winnipeg, the big Philadelphia contract, one year in St. Louis and two in Pittsburgh. The final NHL line reads 185 goals and 446 points in 805 games, with 26 points in 56 playoff games.
Last season was the quiet one. Hayes dressed 28 times for the Penguins, managed four goals and eight points in a reserve role, and never made it into the playoff lineup.
Take a look at how Ak Bars welcomed him:
Hayes told the club he wants to help Kazan take the last step. Ak Bars has not lifted a Gagarin Cup since 2018.
