Well, last year was a contract year too, so using it doesn't really help your case. He had an good first half and a really good second half. There's nothing in there that argues strongly that it won't be the same this year: one great half and one good half. It's just potentially happening in the reverse order. We don't know yet.
Come on now. I respect you a lot, but this is not the strongest of arguments. First of all, how was last year a contract year? Second of all now, we are going to discount the fact that he has played well in something like 77 games in a row and instead chalk it up to good in second half and good in first half? He has been doing this for close to 80 games. Want to tell me, as Edge or Jas did, that you do not believe that he is this type of player? Fine. I can buy that. But to disparage what has been going on for quite some time seems pigheadedly stubborn. Just say that you do not buy it.
The cut off you're using to create a larger sample is artificial and can be used to decide to paint the picture however you want. Earlier in this thread, someone was chopping off the hot streak to show that maybe he isn't quite that good, but that's essentially the same thing.
Don't know what someone else was doing, but all I am doing it saying how good he has been over a large portion of time.
To date, Hayes has produced at about a 55 points per 82 rate since the beginning of 17-18. I think that number is a good candidate to end up closer to 50 points by the end of the year. It seems we have a 50-55 point player on our hands.
Or you look at it from what he has been doing this year or what he as been doing over the last almost 80 games and find that he is scoring points at a rate that many other centers in the league do not. And the fact that he is only 26 can suggest that he is only now beginning to hit his stride. Let's not even mention that in the majority of these games, his linemates have mostly not been the Kreider's of the world and until recently his PP time was very low if anything at all.
In the face of the fact that we don't have a top-end player at any position except for arguably LW, he needs to be dealt. Chytil, Kravtsov, Andersson, Miller... these guys might become at that level, but we need to keep swinging until we're there. Hayes is a player who I strongly believe can help an existing contender, but he's not going to help a rebuilding team become one. We need more assets who can potentially be what we need.
Again, it all comes down to what you believe him to be. IF you believe that Zbad is legit top line center and what you have been seeing from Hayes is the new normal, than that is one discussion. IF you do not believe that this is the new normal and that he is essentially just a solid 2nd line center, than it is a different discussion.
My only debates have been a) to play devil's advocate (top 2 line centers & b) to call a spade a spade as far as what his production has been over quite a large time span. Do I think that he should be traded? yeah. But for other reasons and those reasons are NOT an attempt to disparage what his production has been. Or that he has been quite the two-way player.
