Hayes expects to play up and down lineup with Jets

WINNIPEG --Kevin Hayes said he is ready for anything with the Winnipeg Jets.

He'd better be.
The 26-year-old center who was traded to the Jets from the New York Rangers for a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, forward Brendan Lemieux and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft on Monday made his Jets debut in a 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
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He played on a line with wings Mathieu Perreault and Nikolaj Ehlers, winning eight of 12 face-offs in 15:54 of ice time, well below his season average of 19:27 with the Rangers.
"It's always going to be different when you come to a new building and play in front of new fans," Hayes said. "But it was a blast. A lot of emotions and maybe a little too much thinking out there but after a couple of shifts, it felt pretty normal, even if was not the result we wanted."
Certainly not. The Wild scored goals 26 seconds apart in the final two minutes of the third period to stun the crowd at Bell MTS Place and the Jets, who fell to 1-4-1 in their past six games.
The loss left the Jets (37-22-4) one point behind the first-place Nashville Predators and four points ahead of the surging third-place St. Louis Blues in the Central Division.
Hayes is unlikely to see the Jets operating at peak efficiency for some weeks, given that defensemen Dustin Byfuglien (lower-body injury, out since Feb. 16) and Josh Morrissey (upper-body injury, out until April) are missing.
But it's key for Winnipeg, which has been outscored 25-14 in its six-game slump, to find a place for the 26-year-old, who gives the Jets a strong group of centers with Mark Scheifele, Bryan Little, Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp.

"He's not an old guy but a veteran player, a guy who's played in the National Hockey League and a player you're aware of," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "So, they (Jets players) know about him as a player and they kind of look down at our center ice and it's pretty good, pretty strong. And that idea of having another big man in the middle of the ice makes everybody a little bigger."
Having played one game for the Jets, Hayes wasn't getting ahead of himself but believes he will see a variety of linemates and said he would welcome the chance to play with Patrick Laine, a 20-year-old forward who has scored 42 points (29 goals, 13 assists) in 63 games, but went 15 games, from Jan. 15 - Feb. 20 without goal.
"He's a goal scorer, has an unbelievable shot," Hayes said of Laine, who has 109 goals in 218 NHL games. "I'd love to play with him."
Laine had a goal and an assist against the Wild and has six points (four goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak. The preference is for him to succeed playing on the top line with Scheifele and Blake Wheeler, though having Laine ride shotgun to a pass-first skilled playmaker like Hayes is appealing, as well.
"I don't know what combinations they're thinking about doing," said Hayes, who has 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists) in 52 games this season and 216 points (87 goals, 129 assists) in 362 NHL games.

Maurice has never been one to shy away from altering combinations, nor has he ever been one to wait too long to do it.
For Hayes' start in Winnipeg, Maurice chose the path of least disruption to his other lines, but the options are almost certainly rolling around in his head, or on a white board somewhere.
And there was a hint of harnessing expectations for the Hayes (6-foot-5, 216 pounds), who's versatile and can help Winnipeg on the defensive side of the puck at the time of the season when it matters most.
Many see Hayes, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, as somehow reprising the role of Paul Stastny, whom the Jets acquired from the St. Louis Blues for a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and prospect forward Erik Foley prior to the trade deadline last year.
Stastny had 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 19 regular-season games after the trade and 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 17 playoff games for the Jets before signing with the Vegas Golden Knights as a free agent on July 1, 2018.
He played much of his time with young wings Ehlers and Laine as the Jets finished the regular season with 114 points and advanced to the Western Conference Final before losing to the Golden Knights in five games.
Though struggling now, the Jets hope Hayes, no matter what line he plays on, can help them make another deep run in the postseason.
"Until they find one that works, we've got some pretty good players in this locker room and I'm excited about what could be," Hayes said.