Avery Hayes finishes his first full look in the NHL window as Penguins prospect track stays on a scoring track

PITTSBURGH got a glimpse of its next forward option in 2025-26 through Avery Hayes, a winger who finished his NHL sampling with five goals and no assists in 16 regular-season games. The season’s storyline, though, was uneven by design. Hayes arrived as a call-up capable of finishing plays, then spent much of the year toggling between Pittsburgh and its AHL affiliate, where his scoring touch stayed more consistent.

Hayes’ professional profile is straightforward. He is 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, a right-shot winger from Westland, Michigan, and he entered the organization as an undrafted player. His NHL debut provided the headline moment: PensBurgh reported that Hayes scored twice in the first period of a Feb. 5, 2026 home win over the Buffalo Sabres, and that his two-goal first period made him one of a small group of players to score twice in the opening period of their NHL debut. From there, the follow-through took longer. During a 10-game post-Olympics stretch, PensBurgh reported that Hayes did not record a point before he found the scoresheet again late in March.

Even when his NHL production lagged, Hayes’ value to the Penguins’ development plan did not disappear. PensBurgh reported that he continued to play physically and logged 12 penalty minutes in 16 games, a sign that he was not merely chasing highlights. That physical edge matters in an NHL setting where young forwards are judged not only on goals but on how quickly they can apply pressure, win board battles, and handle short shifts.

The most important contrast came from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. PensBurgh said Hayes led the AHL Penguins with 24 goals in 42 games, a pace that suggests the finishing tool remained sharp even as the NHL ice time varied. That AHL scoring rate helped clarify what the Penguins could reasonably ask for in Pittsburgh: a consistent offensive presence when he is in the lineup, rather than a brief burst. In the final stretch of the NHL season, with Pittsburgh already positioned for the postseason, PensBurgh reported that Hayes stayed up for the last three regular-season games and produced another two-goal performance, this time against the St. Louis Blues.

Hayes’ contract situation also provides runway. The Penguins announced his signing to a two-year entry-level contract, and Yahoo Sports’ season review recap listed the key terms: Hayes is signed through the 2026-27 season on an $867,500 entry-level deal. That matters because it gives the organization time to calibrate his role as either a depth scorer or, if the offensive output translates, a more regular top-rotation winger.

Pittsburgh did not get Hayes into the postseason lineup during 2025-26 playoffs, according to PensBurgh’s account. Still, the developmental work continued in the AHL playoffs, where the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins reached the Eastern Conference Finals before an overtime elimination. PensBurgh reported that Hayes added three goals in 15 AHL postseason games, reinforcing that he could keep producing when pressure rose, even if the NHL stage was on hold.

What to watch next is how much of that AHL scoring pattern becomes repeatable NHL production. Hayes already showed he can spike a game, as the debut indicated. The next step is to widen the distribution of his impact, converting more of his physical game into point production and doing it across longer stretches of NHL minutes rather than short windows. If he can do that, he becomes more than a matchup option, and the Penguins’ forward group gets a clearer young scoring piece heading into the 2026-27 season.

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