Jimmy Hayes

James Ryan Hayes (November 21, 1989 – August 23, 2021) was an American professional ice hockey right winger. Nicknamed "Broadway", he was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round, 60th overall, of the 2008 NHL entry draft and played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, and the New Jersey Devils. His younger brother Kevin Hayes is also a professional ice hockey player.

Playing career

Amateur In 2005–06, Hayes was a member of the U.S. National U-17 Team at the 2005 Four Nations Tournament, hosted in Russia. He was then selected to the 2006 U.S. U-17 Select Team and participated at the U-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament hosted in the Czech Republic. He was selected first overall in the 2006 USHL Futures Draft by the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets.

In 2006–07, Hayes played for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP)'s under-18 team, and was also a member of the silver medal-winning Team USA at the 2007 IIHF World U18 Championships, hosted in Finland.

In his three-year, 117-game tenure with the Boston College Eagles, Hayes tallied a total of 81 points (42 goals and 39 assists). As a freshman in the 2008–09 season, Hayes played in 36 games and registered 13 points (eight goals and five assists). Of the eight goals, one was a game-winning goal, one was a power play goal, and one was a shorthanded goal. At the end of the season, Hayes ranked fifth on the team with 75 shots. He is also noted to have recorded two multiple-goal games, including one hat trick. Hayes with the Blackhawks in January 2012. The 2011–12 season was his rookie season in the NHL As a sophomore in the 2009–10 season, Hayes played in all 42 of Boston College's games. During that time, he registered 35 points (13 goals and 22 assists). He is also credited with three power play goals, three game-winning goals, and a +7 plus-minus rating. Hayes had nine multi-point games during the season, including one four-point outing and one three-point night. Hayes' effort during the post-season helped to lift the Eagles over the University of Maine in a 7–6 overtime victory during the Hockey East championship game on March 20.

Hayes made his NHL debut against the Detroit Red Wings on December 30, 2011. He scored his first NHL goal on January 2, 2012, in his second career game, against Devan Dubnyk of the Edmonton Oilers. Hayes scored his second goal on January 5, in this third career game against Ilya Bryzgalov of the Philadelphia Flyers.

After playing 10 games for the Blackhawks lockout-shortened 2012–13 season and 67 games for the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL, Hayes was a part of the Blackhawks 2013 Stanley Cup-winning team and received a ring from the team but didn't qualify to get his name engraved on the Cup by not playing at least 23 games in the lockout-shortened 2012–13 regular season or any games in the Finals and the playoffs altogether.

During the 2013–14 season, on November 14, 2013, Hayes was traded, along with Dylan Olsen, to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Kris Versteeg and Philippe Lefebvre. On July 29, 2014, Hayes and the Panthers agreed to a one-year, one-way contract for $925,000. In the 2014–15 season, Hayes played his first full season in the NHL with the Panthers, notching a career high 19 goals and 35 points in 72 games.

As a restricted free agent, on July 1, 2015, the Panthers traded Hayes to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Reilly Smith and the contract of injured Marc Savard. On July 6, 2015, Hayes agreed to terms on a three-year contract with the Bruins worth $2.3 million per year. Hayes' first goal as a Bruin came on October 14, 2015, in a 6–2 road victory against the hosting Colorado Avalanche. Just over two months later, in the second game of a home-on-home series against the Ottawa Senators, Hayes scored his first-ever NHL hat trick against Senators' goaltender Craig Anderson, as the initial, fifth and seventh Bruins goals (the seventh scored with only 0.2 seconds of game time remaining) for a 7–3 home ice Bruins win.

On June 30, 2017, after a career-worst season (2 goals, 5 points in 58 games) in 2016–17, Hayes was bought out from the remaining year of his contract by the Bruins.

On October 1, 2017, Hayes signed a one-year, one-way contract with the New Jersey Devils. In and out of the lineup, Hayes had three goals and six assists in 33 games.

On July 1, 2018, Hayes signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. While participating at the Penguins training camp prior to the 2018–19 season, Hayes was reassigned to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Personal life Hayes, along with his brother Kevin, was a cousin of former NHL players Tom Fitzgerald and Keith Tkachuk, as well as Tkachuk's sons Matthew and Brady, and Fitzgerald's sons Ryan, who was drafted by the Boston Bruins, and Casey, a Buffalo Sabres prospect.

After his retirement, Hayes started the podcast Missin Curfew with fellow former players Shane O'Brien and Scottie Upshall. At the time of his death, Hayes was married and had two sons.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2004–05 Noble and Greenough School HS-Prep 32 18 16 34 — — — — — — 2005–06 Noble and Greenough School HS-Prep 29 18 13 31 — — — — — 2006–07 U.S. NTDP U17 USDP 14 2 7 9 6 — — — — — 2006–07 U.S. NTDP U18 USDP 56 23 22 45 41 — — — — — 2006–07 U.S. NTDP U18 NAHL 14 6 8 14 4 — — — — — 2007–08 U.S. NTDP U18 USDP 23 2 6 8 6 — — — — — 2007–08 U.S. NTDP U18 NAHL 19 2 8 10 6 — — — — — 2007–08 Lincoln Stars USHL 21 4 11 15 18 8 4 5 9 8 2008–09 Boston College HE 36 8 5 13 22 — — — — — 2009–10 Boston College HE 42 13 22 35 14 — — — — — 2010–11 Boston College HE 39 21 12 33 24 — — — — — 2010–11 Rockford Icehogs AHL 7 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 2011–12 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 31 5 4 9 16 2 0 0 0 15 2011–12 Rockford Icehogs AHL 33 7 16 23 11 — — — — — 2012–13 Rockford Icehogs AHL 67 25 20 45 23 — — — — — 2012–13 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 10 1 3 4 0 — — — — — 2013–14 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2013–14 Rockford Icehogs AHL 13 4 4 8 2 — — — — — 2013–14 Florida Panthers NHL 53 11 7 18 18 — — — — — 2014–15 Florida Panthers NHL 72 19 16 35 20 — — — — — 2015–16 Boston Bruins NHL 75 13 16 29 60 — — — — — 2016–17 Boston Bruins NHL 58 2 3 5 29 — — — — — 2017–18 New Jersey Devils NHL 33 3 6 9 6 — — — — — 2017–18 Binghamton Devils AHL 3 0 2 2 0 — — — — — 2018–19 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 72 15 15 30 25 — — — — —NHL totals 334 54 55 109 149 2 0 0 0 15

International