Personally not interested in Hayes even a little bit. If the Avs can’t get that really good 2C like a Zibanejad/RNH, I would just wait until one becomes available which will happen eventually. I don’t think the Avs should be buying unless it’s a core guy coming back as I don’t think they’ll contend with a guy like Hayes anyways. To use my other team the Leafs as an example, they have traded for Boyle and Pleks the past couple of years and have given up 2 2nds and prospects to do it and it really hasn’t done much for them. I’m really not a fan of trading for stop gaps or tweeters unless you have serious cup aspirations. If the Leafs still had those 2 2nds they could add a 1st and get a good dman for example rather than the nothing they have now. I’d much rather Colorado keep all of their assets and blow it on a core player when one becomes available.
As for Zibanejad I would obviously be very interested but not for the Ottawa 1st like some are suggesting. Teams don’t (knowingly) give up value like that anymore. When St Luois refuses to trade either Kyrou or Thomas for ROR/Schenn, San Jose refuses to trade Hertl or Meier for EK, Ottawa refuses to trade Brown/Chabot/White for Duchene (Ott 1st was thought to be low at the time), Nashville refuses to trade Tolvanen/Fabbro (Girard is amazing but he wasn’t thought to be an A prospect at the time) for Turris, and Tampa refuses to give Foote or Sergachev for McDonagh, you can see a trend where teams don’t give their A+ assets seemingly no matter who they’re trading for. The Rangers obviously have the option of keeping Zibby, which they will probably do, but eventually a guy like that will become available and it won’t take the Ottawa 1st or a Makar to get him.