After not finding a new home in the NHL for this season, veteran forward Kevin Hayes opted to play in the KHL for the Kazan Ak-Bars.
Well, five games into his KHL tenure, the 34-year-old has decided to hang up his skates.
“I have decided to end my hockey career. I can no longer play at the level I am capable of because my body does not allow me to perform at my best. And I cannot accept not being in top form,” Hayes said in a post on X by the KHL.
Hayes did not score a point in the KHL and didn’t feel like himself as he began the regular season.
Last year, Hayes just played in 28 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins due to injuries. He suffered an upper-body injury during the first day of training camp after a collision along the boards and was placed on injured reserve. Hayes didn’t make his debut until November 8, 2025.
Fast forward to March, the veteran sustained a lower-body injury at the end of what became his final NHL season.
The Chicago Blackhawks selected Hayes 24th overall in 2010. He played 805 regular-season games, scoring 445 points across the New York Rangers, Winnipeg Jets, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Hayes’ impact in New York
As the power forward got his career going with the Rangers, Hayes ranked seventh in Calder voting in 2014-15 and was a Ranger for five seasons.
Hayes put up at least 14 goals in every season he played in New York and topped off at a career-high 25 goals in the 2017-18 season.
Playing for his brother
Kevin continued to play hockey after his brother Jimmy passed away in 2021 due to accidental acute intoxication from the combined effects of fentanyl and cocaine.
Hayes’ father, Jimmy Sr., detailed the beginning of an addiction that his eldest son was going through.
“He had had an injury for a while, and I think he started taking the painkillers, and they get you. I said, ‘Jim, I think I see a problem here.’ And he’s 31 years old, so I can’t tell him to go get help. So I said, ‘When you want help, I’ll be here for you, pal. Let me know.’
“He called me three weeks later and said, ‘Dad, I’m hooked on these pills. I got injured, and I started taking them, and I never got off.’ And I said, ‘Well, let’s get you some help.’ He went to a place up in Haverhill. So he gets help and everything was on the path to recovery, I thought. But this [expletive] is so powerful.”
Jimmy skated in the NHL for seven seasons from 2011 to 2018. He played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, and the New Jersey Devils.
The eldest brother also won an NCAA Championship with Boston College in 2010.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Longtime New York Rangers Forward Kevin Hayes Retires