Report: Blackhawks, Flyers and Avalanche all targeting the same free agent this summer.

It seems like 3 teams in the National Hockey League have plans for a big move this summer but only one of them is going to get their way.

As many of you will already know former New York Ranger Kevin Hayes, currently of the Winnipeg Jets, is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this current season and he will be one of the biggest free agents up for grabs on the market. It is true that after being traded to the Winnipeg Jets that Hayes did have a slight dip in form, but when you consider the fact that he was adapting to a new system as a center it's perfectly reasonable. Even with that little dip he still put up 5 goals and 7 assists for a total of 12 points in his 20 regular season appearances as a member of the Jets. 

Hayes was also described by New York Rangers insider Larry Brooks as arguably the best player on the Rangers roster over the course of the past 2 seasons and, when you add to that the fact that he plays one of the most valuable positions in the National Hockey League, there should be no shortage of buyers interested in Hayes as a result. That being said it now seems like 3 teams may be the front runners for his services.

In a recent article Sportsnet National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that 3 different NHL teams had gone to the International Ice hockey Federation's World Championship tournament in order to scout Hayes and get a better feel for where he is at right now. No doubt this way to see how much of his dip in form was related to the Jets, and how much was on Hayes himself.

From Friedman:

Word from the Worlds is there’s a lot of due diligence being done on Kevin Hayes. Colorado, Philadelphia and, most interestingly, Chicago among them. Hayes, you’ll remember, was drafted by the Blackhawks but chose the Rangers in free agency. Chicago saw him score a beautiful overtime winner against them after he was traded to Winnipeg.

Of course at the end of the day only one of these teams can land Kevin Hayes, who would you put your money on? Colorado? Philadelphia? Or Chicago?