- Utah matched the Devils’ one-year, $4.775 million offer sheet to keep Barrett Hayton
- The Mammoth can’t trade Hayton for a full year, and he reaches unrestricted free agency in 2027
- Read below for GM Bill Armstrong’s take and where Hayton fits in a crowded center group
Barrett Hayton isn’t going anywhere.
The Utah Mammoth matched the New Jersey Devils’ one-year, $4.775 million offer sheet on Wednesday, keeping the restricted free agent center in Salt Lake City. New Jersey signed Hayton to the sheet on July 1, and Utah had until Wednesday to make its call.
Utah made it official on X:
Had the Mammoth walked away, they would have collected a 2027 second-round pick from the Devils as compensation. Instead they kept their guy and handed over nothing.
There is a catch. Matching the sheet locks Hayton in place, since Utah cannot trade him for a full calendar year. The one-year term also walks him straight to unrestricted free agency next July 1.
General manager Bill Armstrong left no doubt about why Utah kept him around.
“Barrett is a key piece of our team and important to what we are building here in Utah,” Armstrong said. “He’s strong in the faceoff circle, plays both sides of the puck, and can play with anyone in our forward group.”
JFresh summed up what the Mammoth are getting back:
Hayton put up 10 goals and 25 points in 67 games last season while averaging just over 15 minutes a night. He set career highs the year before with 20 goals and 46 points across a full 82-game slate.
The Peterborough, Ontario native has been in the organization since Arizona took him fifth overall in 2018. He now joins a center group that is suddenly loaded, with Nick Schmaltz, Logan Cooley, Jack McBain and newly acquired Vincent Trocheck all able to line up down the middle.
New Jersey reportedly kicked around a trade for Hayton before tendering the sheet. That gamble is dead, and the deadline Utah stared down this week is settled with the 26-year-old back in the fold.
