The Philadelphia Flyers waived Nicolas Aube-Kubel in a move that would appear to make room for a Kevin Hayes return heading into the weekend. Because of salary cap issues, there was no way to bring back Hayes without waiving one of their three “spare” forwards in a corresponding move. 

NAK really only had one solid season in 2019-2020 and hasn’t been able to stay consistent since. In seven games this year, he has 0G-1A. Pretty disappointing from the 2014 2nd round pick (48th overall).

In addition to Kevin Hayes, Ryan Ellis is on track to return to the Flyers this weekend against the Dallas Stars. Ellis has been out since the third game of the season with a hip injury. 

Hayes has been sidelined all season thanks to another abdominal operation. Over the past week, he has been telling everyone within the Flyers organization that he was ready to come back and play. By waiving NAK, it looks like that will happen. 

If both Kevin Hayes and Ryan Ellis do play against Dallas on Saturday, it will be the first time all season that the Flyers have a full lineup. The Flyers will take on the 10-1-0 Carolina Hurricanes tonight before heading to Dallas tomorrow night. 

Mandatory Credit: NHL.com