Vitals
Player: Kevin Hayes
Born: May 8, 1992 (34 years old, 2025-26 was his age-33 season)
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 217 pounds
Hometown: Dorchester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Shoots: Left
Draft: First round (24th overall) by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2010 NHL draft
2025-26 Regular Season Statistics: 28 games played; four goals; four assists; eight points
Contract Status: Enters unrestricted free agency on July 1 following completion of a seven-year, $50 million contract
Story of the Season
Kevin Hayes’ story of the season is
a bit limited, having not even played a game until nearly mid-November due to a shoulder injury suffered on the very first day of training camp.
Hayes saw most of his action in November and December, hitting the ice for the first time on Nov. 8 against the New Jersey Devils. A season highlight came in the 12/21 game against Montreal, when Hayes scored in a shootout that helped the Pens break an eight-game losing streak and end up as one of only three shootout wins in 13 tries on the season. Hayes wasn’t in a consistent role playing much longer, ending with the Dec. 23 contest against the Maple Leafs. He’d only appear sporadically after that, dressing for only seven of the team’s last 46 games and being a healthy scratch for all six playoff games.
He sustained a lower-body injury in March, returning to the lineup just before the end of the regular season, appearing in the team’s final three games as Dan Muse decided to rest other players ahead of the first-round playoff series.
Hayes registered a goal and played 14:51 of ice time in the Penguins’ 6-3 loss to the Washington Capitals on April 11. In game No. 82, against his former club, the St. Louis Blues, he notched two assists and recorded a plus-3 rating in a 7-5 loss.
Monthly Splits
The splits show where most of his damage was done midseason. Most everything else is, understandably, pretty barren.
Regular season 5v5 advanced stats
Data via Natural Stat Trick. Ranking is out of 18 forwards on the team who qualified by playing a minimum of 150 minutes.
Corsi For%: 52.25 (5th)
Goals For%: 50.00 (14th)
xGF%: 54.13 (2nd)
Scoring Chance %: 55.77 (2nd)
High Danger Scoring Chance%: 56.78 (3rd)
5v5 on-ice shooting%: 10.96 (13th)
On-ice save%: 87.40 (17th)
Goals/60: 0.77
Assist/60: 0.77
Points/60: 1.53
These metrics are somewhat skewed because, although Hayes qualifies by playing a minimum of 150 minutes, he only logged 313:19, the fifth-fewest minutes recorded by any of the eligible forwards.
Hayes is never going to be mistaken for a shutdown center, but his experience and positioning helped offset some of the footspeed concerns. The on-ice save percentage stands out as one of the larger negatives from this data set, but had he played more over the course of the season, how much better might the stat have been?
The Penguins often relied on him in support roles, which allowed him to maximize his strengths while minimizing some of his limitations.
Charts n’at
Hayes was not bad when he was called on to get into the game, but likely wouldn’t have the same numbers had he played more than the 28 games and 313 5v5 minutes that he did. In small doses, he could perform well, but if the mission was to make him into a lineup regular, he likely would have struggled in a larger role.
Hayes has been around long enough to know where to take his shots when he can get them.
The game gets faster every year, and Hayes, in his mid-30s, struggles to keep up. Skating was never the forte of his game; time and injuries have only eroded that.
Highlights
Questions to ponder
Where might Kevin Hayes end up for the 2026-27 season? It almost certainly won’t be in Pittsburgh upon the official expiration of his contract.
At 34, does he have anything left in the tank to impress one of the 31 other clubs looking to round out their bottom-six groups?
Ideal 2026-27
Barring something unforeseen, Hayes’ time in the black and gold has come to an end, with younger legs now ready to take the reins of the bottom-six.
While obviously not the player he once was, perhaps he latches onto another team looking for a veteran forward over the summer.
Bottom line
Hayes’ two years in Pittsburgh were unspectacular, but he did what was asked of him. He was seemingly a popular locker room presence, and by all accounts, knowing his playing time was drastically reduced in 2025-26, he handled the decreased role with professionalism, ready to jump into the lineup whenever his number was called.
From a front office perspective, Kyle Dubas accomplished his goal of acquiring the 2025 second-round draft pick in exchange for taking on Hayes’ large salary. Funnily enough, the pick that was sent to Pittsburgh with Hayes was sent back to St. Louis (along with a fifth-round pick) to acquire a 2025 third-round pick (Brady Peddle) and a 2026 second-round pick.
Final Grade: C
With only 28 games logged during the regular season, and knowing what his limitations were, Hayes was used only when injuries necessitated his deployment.
He came here to help fill out a bottom-six that was part of a roster in transition, and even with the team largely exceeding expectations this year, Hayes remained a steadfast professional.
