Penguins add high-scoring prospect who had 2 hat tricks right before Olympic break

The Pittsburgh Penguins are coming out of the Olympic break with a big injury question surrounding Sidney Crosby.

In the interest of having some more forward firepower, they've called up an inspirational, high-scoring prospect: Avery Hayes.

Hayes made his NHL debut right before the Olympic break, but it's what he did at AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton that caught notice. In their five games before the break, he had two hat tricks.

The 23-year old is an awesome story. He was an undrafted free agent in 2023 and signed just an AHL contract, not a deal with the NHL club.

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Last season, the Penguins finally said hey, we should sign this guy, and so they gave him an NHL entry-level deal.

This season, Hayes has 19 goals at the AHL level.

And oh yeah, in his single game at the NHL level against the Sabres before the break, Hayes scored two goals in just more than 10 minutes. He fired six shots in that time, clearly not shy.

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Pittsburgh is mostly at full health besides Crosby, so Hayes probably doesn't have an immediate path to too much playing time. But he's already proven he can make the most of the minutes he gets. And if Crosby is indeed out for a stretch, an extra scorer is a good thing to have around.

This could be Hayes' chance to really prove he belongs in the NHL.

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