Kevin Hayes is done waiting on the NHL. On 25 August TSN confirmed a one-year deal with Ak Bars Kazan. He is 34, with 12 NHL seasons behind him. Last stop: Pittsburgh, 28 games, four goals, eight points. The seven-year, $50m Philadelphia contract expired on 1 July. It carried a $7.14m cap hit; the Flyers still retained half after the 2023 trade to St. Louis.
What Hayes actually brings to Kazan
Chicago took him 24th in 2010. He never played for the Blackhawks. Debut: Rangers, 2014. Then Winnipeg, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Pittsburgh. Career line: 185 goals, 445 points, 805 games. That is not a first-line peak from 2018. It is a big forward who can hold pucks and kill shifts. For Ak Bars in August that is a clean bet: a veteran on a one-year look, no seven-year tail.
The NHL market after 28 games last season sat in the third-line, reasonable-money bracket. A big offer did not arrive. Kazan offered minutes and a defined term. Hayes took it.
Hedman is coming back to Tampa without a caveat
On 26 August NHL.com published a long conversation with Victor Hedman. He is 35, heading into an 18th season with the Lightning. Last game: 19 March. Then a procedure, then a personal leave the club put on the record. He skated with the group in the playoffs and did not dress: Montreal won Game 7 of the first round 2–1 on 3 May.
Hedman is blunt: the summer is done, camp is fine, no doubt. For Tampa that matters more than any August import in Kazan. The defenceman who carried the club for a decade is returning as a October piece, not a narrative. Camps have not opened. Rosters are still paper. Two arrows are already clear: Hayes to the KHL for a year, Hedman back in Lightning colours.