‘I feel like I owe it to my teammates, I owe it to the city, I owe it to Chuck [Fletcher]’: Kevin Hayes eager to return on Saturday vs. Blackhawks

As the Flyers went 3-10-3 over the past month and a half, all center Kevin Hayes could do was sit back and watch.

On game nights, Hayes witnessed the team’s shortcomings from the press box. On practice days, Hayes was on a separate ice rink doing rehab skates, sometimes by himself with skills coach Angelo Ricci, sometimes with other injured teammates.

But 46 days after undergoing surgery to treat an infection in his groin, Hayes is expected to return to the lineup against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center. Hayes will slot in at third-line center and look to bring some life to the Flyers, who are in need of a rebound after another frustrating loss on Thursday.

“I truly believe with all my heart that every guy on the team tries their hardest,” Hayes said. “We all get paid a pretty good amount of money to show up and give it your all. I believe that my teammates do that. I hope that I can come back and help the team win. Whether it’s offensively, defensively, being positive, whatever way.”

Hayes revealed that he had an infection in his groin that spread through his left upper leg, which led to the surgery he had in January. After the surgery, Hayes waited for the infection to clear out and for the lump he had to settle down.

Now, over a month and a half since the surgery, Hayes said he has met with infectious disease doctors, who informed him the infection is gone and that his blood is clean. Hayes said that he was never too concerned that his infection would amount to something “super serious,” but he was nervous that he would need another big surgery.

“I know I downplayed the previous surgeries, but I was just very frustrated that I couldn’t really get back to where I was at before and I’ve been dealing with it for a couple years now,” Hayes said.

While Hayes has felt good about his recent rehab progress, nothing in practice can replicate true game action. No one knows this better than Hayes himself. He made his season debut on Nov. 13 against the Dallas Stars after rehabbing from his second abdominal surgery. Hayes recalled feeling great prior, but during the game while reaching down for the puck, Hayes had a moment where he thought to himself, “Oh, my God, I think I need surgery.”

Hayes played the following game against the Calgary Flames on Nov. 16 before sitting out for two weeks. A month and a half after returning to action on Dec. 1 against the New York Rangers, Hayes underwent surgery to treat the infection and has been out since.

The forward has been practicing with the rest of the team for the last few weeks. An MRI about a week and a half ago revealed that he would not need season-ending surgery and that he would be able to return to play this season.

“This is the best I’ve felt in a while and I can just feel it skating up the ice pre-practice,” Hayes said. “When you’re striding and you don’t feel a tug in your leg or a pain in your upper groin, it’s nice. And when you actually skate full speed without pain, it feels nice.”

Now, Hayes is looking forward to rejoining his teammates in the lineup on Saturday as they look to snap a two-game skid.

“You guys have a job, I have a job. I get paid to play hockey and it’s the thing I love most in my life besides my family. It [stinks] when you don’t play, it’s boring. It’s sad. It’s frustrating. I feel like I owe it to my teammates, I owe it to the city, I owe it to Chuck [Fletcher].

“I don’t want to jeopardize anything later on, like for next season or anything. So that’s why we took so much time to figure out what was going on. And it took a while. But I feel good.”

With Hayes entering the lineup, interim head coach Mike Yeo decided to shake up the Flyers’ top nine forwards. On the top line, captain Claude Giroux will move from center to wing. Scott Laughton will play center with Travis Konecny on the other wing.

Yeo is reuniting the second line of right winger Cam Atkinson, center Derick Brassard, and left winger Joel Farabee, who had some success playing together at the start of the season. Hayes, Oskar Lindblom, and James van Riemsdyk will be the third line.

The fourth line of left winger Max Willman, center Patrick Brown, and right winger Zack MacEwen will remain intact from Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Wild. Gerry Mayhew will come out of the lineup.

Goalie Martin Jones (20 games played, 3.51 goals against average, .898 save percentage) will start in net for the Flyers against the Blackhawks. ... The Flyers will face the Blackhawks’ backup goalie Kevin Lankinen (14 games played, 3.53 goals against average, .887 save percentage).