Kevin Hayes’ hockey path is taking him overseas.
The former Blackhawks draft pick is set to sign with AK Bars Kazan in the KHL, according to the report on Tuesday. That move sends his career in a new direction after a long NHL run that began with a complicated draft-day chain and ended with stops all over the league.
Chicago originally landed the 24th overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft through a series of trades. The New Jersey Devils first moved it in a blockbuster deal with the Atlanta Thrashers that included Ilya Kovalchuk, and then Atlanta sent it to the Blackhawks in a deal that also involved Dustin Byfuglien. Chicago used the selection on Hayes, who went on to Boston College and spent four years as one of the school’s top players.
The Blackhawks never signed him before he finished his senior season, and that allowed him to walk as a free agent when college ended. He joined the New York Rangers in 2014 and carved out a solid NHL career as a middle-six forward.
Hayes spent parts of five seasons with the Rangers before moving on to the Winnipeg Jets, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, and Pittsburgh Penguins. If this is the end of his NHL career, it closes the book on a player who delivered steady production over a long stretch.
There is still a question about whether he might come back to the NHL someday, but this is often the kind of move players make late in their careers to earn a little more money for another year or two. For Hayes, the next chapter is now in Kazan.
And if he never returns, there will be no shortage of what-ifs for Chicago. By the time Hayes reached the NHL in 2014, the Blackhawks still had one more championship ahead of them, and he likely would have fit well in their forward group for years.
But that’s the road not taken. What remains is a good career, now headed in a different direction.
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