The Winnipeg Jets make a big move for a second-line center for the second consecutive year, while the New York Rangers' rebuild gets a boost.
Jets get: C Kevin Hayes
Rangers get: 2019 first-round pick, F Brendan Lemieux, conditional 2022 fourth-round pick (pick is traded if Jets win the 2019 Stanley Cup, otherwise no pick is traded)
Jets: A-minus
We knew the Winnipeg Jets wanted to shore up the second-line center spot yet again. Last year, they made the surprise in-division trade to acquire Paul Stastny from the St. Louis Blues, a move that helped propel the Jets to the Western Conference finals. The Jets wanted to re-sign Stastny, but he inked with the Vegas Golden Knights in free agency, and Winnipeg didn't have an immediate contingency plan. Bryan Little has been serviceable in manning the second-line spot, but following this move, he should he should be pushed down to his natural slotting on the third line. Little can also switch back to wing, where he played a lot during last year's playoffs.
Hayes, 26, is a rugged center who should fare well in a physical Western Conference playoff run, and he is an upgrade at that second-line center slot. The Jets' Plan A was to get Ottawa's Mark Stone. But he has become the crown jewel of the trade deadline class -- especially with Artemi Panarin potentially staying in Columbus -- and despite noted interest, Winnipeg found the price tag simply too high.
Hayes also comes cheaper. The first-round pick is likely going to be late in the first round, and Winnipeg was fine parting with it if it helped the team win now (the Jets see their Stanley Cup window as now, especially with tricky financial decisions looming this summer). Lemieux played 44 games this season, but the Jets have enough young forwards who can do the same things that he can do.
There's also some hope that a new center can help revive Patrik Laine, who has been slumping since Christmas (but has three goals in his last two games).
Overall, Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff didn't give up a ton to get better right now. He didn't have to give up a player like Jack Roslovic, whom the club desperately did not want to part with. This trade doesn't deviate from the overall plan, and therefore there's not a lot to critique here.
Rangers: B-minus
Hayes is a talented young center who should be part of the Rangers' core moving forward. Hayes wanted to be with the New York Rangers for a long time. And now, Hayes -- who last summer avoided arbitration, but only signed a one-year deal -- is gone.
This should be a loss for New York GM Jeff Gorton ... except it really isn't. As noted, Hayes becomes a UFA this summer, and there's a good chance he will re-sign with the Rangers anyway. Despite a surprisingly decent start, New York is out of the playoff race for this season, which will be remembered as Year 1 of the David Quinn Era, Year 2 of the rebuild, but otherwise will be forgettable.
Could the Rangers have secured more for Hayes? Perhaps, just as they were hoping the market for Mats Zuccarello would have yielded more. Centers are usually rare commodities at the trade deadline, but this year there happened to be multiple pivots that could plug into a team's first or second line. That likely lowered the price for Hayes.
Lemieux is a feisty young winger who is on the final year of his entry-level contract, and he enters restricted free agency this summer. At best, he's a third-liner right now, but he'll be cheap to keep -- he has no arbitration rights -- and is a fine stopgap. He already has 44 games of NHL experience for a very good team, so we know he can play in this league.
The biggest stat to come out of this deal? This is what the beginning of the Rangers' 2019 draft looks like: two first-round picks, three second-round picks (including a pick that could become a first-round pick if the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup). That's rebuilding the right way.