Kevin Hayes is retiring, closing a 12-season NHL career with Mike Sullivan now leading the Rangers team where his pro story took off.
Hayes announced Monday that his playing days are over after a brief attempt to continue his career in Russia. He appeared in five games with AK Bars Kazan before stepping away.
The 34-year-old leaves hockey with 805 NHL games and 446 points spread across five organizations.
But for Rangers fans, Hayes will always be tied closely to the group that arrived in New York during the middle of the last decade.
Chicago drafted him 24th overall in 2010, but Hayes never signed there. He instead chose the Rangers as a free agent in August 2014 after finishing his college career at Boston College.
That decision gave New York a 6-foot-5 forward who could play down the middle, protect the puck and create offense with patience rather than pure speed.
By early in his fifth Rangers season, Hayes had produced 177 points through 320 NHL appearances, all with New York.
Hayes became a major piece of the Rangers transition
His best goal-scoring season in New York came in 2017-18, when Hayes scored 25 times while his role continued to expand.
The following season turned him into a major trade chip. Hayes had 14 goals and 28 assists in 51 games before the Rangers moved him to Winnipeg at the deadline.
New York received Brendan Lemieux, a first-round pick and a conditional fourth-round selection in that deal, a significant return for a pending unrestricted free agent.
Hayes later played for the Jets, Flyers, Blues and Penguins, but his longest NHL stop remained the Rangers.
His final NHL season came in Pittsburgh, where he recorded four goals and four assists in 28 games during 2025-26.
That season also closed the seven-year, $50 million contract he originally signed with Philadelphia after leaving Winnipeg.
Hayes said his body would no longer allow him to perform at the level he expected from himself, ending his KHL move almost as quickly as it began.
For Rangers fans, his retirement closes the book on a player who went from prized college free agent to established NHL centre during an important era at Madison Square Garden.
Will Rangers fans remember Kevin Hayes most for his years in New York?
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