ST. LOUIS—Several days after word leaked out that the Blues were deep in trade talks with the Philadelphia Flyers, the teams completed a pared-down version of a deal with much different contours than had been discussed.

St. Louis on Tuesday acquired forward Kevin Hayes from the Flyers in exchange for a 2024 6th round draft pick.

Hayes, 31, has three years remaining on his current contract. There are reports that the deal includes Philadelphia picking up half of the remaining salary on the life of the deal but the Blues did not confirm that in their announcement of the transaction.

The teams had reportedly been in deeper discussions on a much larger trade over the weekend that involved Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim and St. Louis defenseman Torey Krug, and potentially one of three first round picks the Blues hold in the NHL draft, which starts Wednesday in Nashville.

That deal was scrapped, according to reports, because Krug, who has a no-trade clause in his contract, was unwilling to agree to the deal. Hayes reportedly also has a limited no-trade clause in his contract.

The hope with that deal was that it would shake up a struggling St. Louis defensive corps that was a large factor in why the Blues finished sixth in the Central Division last season and out of the playoffs. 

Blues defensemen Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk and Torey Krug, all in the middle of long-term contracts, underperformed in 2022-2023,, as did Nick Leddy, in the first year of a four-year contract, along with the injury-plagued Marco Scandella, who enters his final year under contract with the Blues.

The move to add Hayes, a nine year NHL veteran who had 18 goals and 36 assists last season as an All-Star, follows major trades made during the season that saw St. Louis part with Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko and Ivan Barbashev, members of the team’s 2019 championship club who were pending free agents.