I doubt the Boston connection is going to matter very much when Hayes comes into practice and proves himself a low effort female dog.
- Victoro311
My comment there was aimed at the fact that Sully must know Hayes, he's a Boston kid that went to BC, etc. I'm sure Dubas consulted Sully at least a bit about this, and there's no way the plan is to not play Hayes. He's almost certainly going to start the year on the third line.
Presumably they think they can get enough out of him to mostly offset the cap hit, then the 2nd aligns with Dubas's plan to draft his way out of the mess Hextal left him, even if it takes a few years. So far his drafts seem to have gone really well, hence maybe that is the best path forward.