He's as good as gone now. Just hope he stays healthy and has a great first half of the season so we can maximize his value at the trade DL. Clearly they couldn't agree on a longer deal, so the shame of it is that will also lower his value at the trade DL as a rental. No one wins here. Hayes has a down season or gets hurt, we can't get good trade value and his ability to sign for big money next summer is diminished. If he has a big season we can get a late first for him at the trade DL, but that kind of puts us/him where he is now anyway.
Shame...but we do have good C depth now, and we could have 3 first round picks if TB wins the cup.