Rangers put off real Kevin Hayes decision with one-year deal

Maybe Kevin Hayes isn’t in the long-term plan for the Rangers, but management bought themselves some time to figure that out.

The Blueshirts signed the 26-year-old center to a one-year, $5.125 million deal Monday, avoiding an arbitration date for the restricted free agent that was set for Thursday. It was a hefty price to pay for the rebuilding Rangers, as Hayes was coming off a two-year bridge deal that carried a $2.6 million annual salary-cap hit.

Hayes is now set for unrestricted free agency after this season, which makes him an attractive trade chip come the deadline if general manager Jeff Gorton wants to continue stockpiling prospects and draft picks. But Gorton does have the cap space to play with for this season. He now is just less than $10 million under the ceiling, with forward Ryan Spooner still an unsigned restricted free agent — his arbitration date is set for Saturday. That number counts veterans Brendan Smith and Matt Beleskey on the roster, although both could pass through waivers and be sent to the AHL during training camp, thus reducing the cap hit.

But for now, most of Gorton’s heavy offseason lifting is done. The only player he committed to long-term was defenseman Brady Skjei, who on Saturday got a six-year deal worth $5.25 million per season. Other than that, Gorton gave restricted free agents short-term deals, like the two-year, $4.55 million contract to winger Jimmy Vesey, and the two-year, $8 million contract to forward Vladislav Namestnikov.

So the 2018-19 Rangers at least have an outline now going into training camp. Hayes is going to be a big part of that after he spent this past season proving he is capable of playing the role of a checking center. That was asked of him by former coach Alain Vigneault, who was replaced this summer by David Quinn.

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The new coach and Hayes go back a ways, as both have ties to Boston — Hayes having grown up in the area and playing for Boston College, and Quinn spent the past five years coaching at rival Boston University. Hayes was even one of the two players — along with Kevin Shattenkirk — to come to New York for Quinn’s introductory press conference on May 24.

The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Hayes was drafted by the Blackhawks with the 24th-overall pick in 2010, but he spurned the successful Chicago franchise to sign with the Rangers as a free agent in the summer of 2014. He had a terrific rookie season of 2014-15, putting up 17 goals and 45 points to help the Rangers make it to the conference final. But he never quite took off like so many expected. He finished last season with 25 goals and 44 points in a very defensive role.

Now the Rangers are going to see if he can flourish under Quinn, and if not, he might turn into more assets as they continue to focus on the future.