Kevin Hayes awaits his future, Flyers anticipate other key veterans returning next season

When Kevin Hayes appeared for his 2022-2023 exit interview Friday, he was more subdued than you’d expect of a guy who had just completed an All-Star season.

That’s because, for all the good that came with the season, Hayes read the writing on the wall: His future and the Flyers’ don’t seem to align as the team begins a rebuild.

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“I’m turning 31,” Hayes said. “I picked up the message that was sent months ago. ... We’ll see how that unfolds. Their decisions have probably already been made. We don’t know them yet. I’m sure I’ll find out around the draft.”

Hayes came into the season excited to finally be healthy and for the challenge of a new coach. He even anticipated some clashes with John Tortorella. Looking back at the season on the morning after game 82, Hayes can only describe the season as “weird.”

“I had almost a career year and was an All-Star,” Hayes said. “I never really felt like it through the whole season.”

The lifelong center was switched to wing by Tortorella early in the year. He later was scratched in December. He mostly played on the first line and second lines and was second on the team in scoring. And when he returned from the All-Star game, he suddenly found himself in a reduced role.

“It’s tough when you’re getting 22 minutes a night and leading the team in points, and then you wake up, you get back from All-Star break and you’re playing eight minutes tonight and playing with different players,” Hayes said.

Hayes doesn’t necessarily want to leave Philadelphia. He expressed his love for the city and its fans, as well as different people in the organization from former general manager Chuck Fletcher and former coach Alain Vigneault to interim general manager Danny Brière. A notable name he left out was Tortorella.

But Hayes also doesn’t make the decisions. He has no control over his future, but if he is traded, he understands that the organization is trying to get younger because that’s how you rebuild. And he’s excited about his young teammates’ future. Even when Hayes isn’t getting to his own game on the ice, he prides himself in helping other players find confidence. Watching them flourish has been “a blast.”

“As much as I would love to stay and help out [during the rebuild], I have no idea if that’s going to be the case,” Hayes said.

Hayes was part of a group of players who understood Tortorella’s messages clearly. Another group heard very little from their coach this season and were left to infer.

Most notably, defenseman Tony DeAngelo spoke in depth for the first time since the day he was a healthy scratch five games ago. Originally, he thought it was because his play slipped and because they were making room for AHL recall Ronnie Attard. Four games later, he has no clue what’s going on and said he thought the fact it lasted five games was “ridiculous.”

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“I can’t really get into it because I don’t know,” DeAngelo said. “I’m sure there’s reasons for it, but nothing that either one of us were obviously willing to discuss. But I’ll just leave it at that.”

Travis Sanheim was also a Tortorella healthy-scratch victim this season. His came in an especially meaningful game: his return to Calgary on Feb 20, where he played junior hockey and had lots of loved ones present. In a long season, especially one like the Flyers’, he said it’s important to have games to look forward to.

Sanheim found out he was scratched from a text he received the morning of the game. He still has no explanation for it, two months later. He said the scratching hurt, but he’s moved on and thinks he and Tortorella have a better understanding of each other now.

He and several other players, like Wade Allison, who Tortorella made a strong statement about being “always hurt,” repeated the phrase “he’s the coach, I’m the player” when referencing their relationships with Tortorella. Many, including Tortorella’s favorites, like Noah Cates, and Scott Laughton, who served as de facto captain this season, said he barely talked to them outside of team meetings or on the ice.

Some found Tortorella’s style of communication worked for them. Although Cates barely received feedback, he figured he could draw conclusions from his ice time. Rasmus Ristolainen said he appreciated Tortorella’s brutal honesty. Ivan Provorov said he made an effort to seek Tortorella out and find solutions when they disagreed.

Ahead of the season, all of the Flyers leaned heavily on Cam Atkinson for advice about Tortorella. He was the only player with previous experience with the coach. Then Atkinson was injured (neck) in training camp and ultimately never returned, leaving the guys to find their way without him. They were also without first-line center and fellow veteran leader Sean Couturier (back).

Looking ahead to next year, they hope to have both of them back on the ice.

The older guys who have played with Couturier and Atkinson had high praise for them and said things could have been a lot different if they’d been in the lineup. Young players, like Cates and Morgan Frost, spoke eagerly of what they’ll be able to learn once they get to work with them every day. DeAngelo, a veteran who’s played against but not with Couturier and Atkinson, “put my GM hat on” and crunched some numbers. He figured those two would produce about 200 more points, which might have helped the team jump from the 75 points they finished with to the 93 teams needed to qualify for this year’s playoffs.

Many players expressed this “rebuild” could progress faster than people anticipate once Couturier and Atkinson return to help out an improved core of young players.

“A lot of people forget Coots won a Selke before he got hurt and was one of the top players in the league,” Joel Farabee said. “Cam’s been a 40-goal scorer in this league. And, you add both those guys to the offense, I think it helps a lot.”

As excited as the team is to have them back, Couturier and Atkinson are even more excited for their own returns. Atkinson said he’s “selfishly” glad the season’s over so he can turn his attention to next year. Couturier said he wants next year to be here now.