Sheffield Steelers sign Edinburgh Capitals hot shot

The club has agreed a deal to bring Edinburgh Capitals right winger or centreman Ryan Hayes to South Yorkshire.The 26-year-old American is in his first season in British hockey, having signed for the Scots in the Summer from the ECHL, where he played for Stockton Thunder and Utah Grizzlies.Hayes was Edinburgh’s leading scorer. He netted 25 goals and 28 assists (53 points) in 41 games for Edinburgh, 20 points ahead of second-place Trevor Gerling.Hayes is in prolific form having chalked up 11 points in 10 games for a team which is second to bottom and lost 5-1 at Dundee Stars last weekend.What effect it will have on the club he leaves is perhaps not difficult to gauge, unless they have another signing up their sleeve.But for Paul Thompson, this maybe the type of player he was looking for when he signed Chris Lawrence, from Coventry, an exercise that ended in the player leaving soon after.Thompson is a big fan of Colton Fretter, but there is no concrete news on whether he will be back this season after suffering his second pelvic area problem.Fretter recently insisted he WILL be back this term, but Hayes’ arrival, on a season long deal shows the club is not willing to gamble.Only Dundee have scored more goals than Sheffield this year, but Thompson is anxious to keep that pattern going.