Last year at the deadline Kevin Cheveldayoff brought in Paul Stastny to help the team down the stretch. Nikolaj Ehlers played with Stastny last spring and has been beside Hayes for his first two games.
"He's a pretty great player. Last year with Stastny it was so easy to play with him because he was just a smart hockey player," said Ehlers.
"He knew exactly where he was supposed to be, he made some incredible plays and it's the same with Hayes now. It's a lot of fun."
Hayes learned a lot about his new teammates when the Jets fell behind 2-0 and was impressed that the attitude on the bench never changed.
"The positivity around here is really contagious," said Hayes.
"I think they know how good they are and when things don't go their way they stick to their structure, we stick to our structure. It just shows what type of team we are, well coached top to bottom. Good players on every line, it's fun to be a part of."
Perhaps the biggest indicator of how important the Boston product is going to be in the final 18 games of the regular season - and beyond - was Hayes being out on the ice protecting the lead with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler tonight.
