The Utah Mammoth have matched the New Jersey Devils’ offer sheet of Barrett Hayton.
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Hayton, 26, signed the offer sheet with the Devils on free agency day, two days after the Mammoth filed for team-elected arbitration.
The contract is worth $4.775 million. A total of $3,925,000 will be paid as a signing bonus — the maximum allowed for this particular contract. It carries a one-year term, putting Hayton on track to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Matching an offer sheet comes with a caveat: The team can’t trade the player for a full year from the day it matches. In Hayton’s case, the contract is only a year long, after which he becomes a UFA.
That means the Mammoth will not be allowed to trade Hayton unless he re-signs with them next year. His name has been in every trade rumor the last few years, but those will all go away now.
“I’m fired up to get back with my teammates and remain in Utah,” Hayton said in a press release. “I’ve been with this core group for my whole career and it’s exciting that we have an opportunity to do some special things next season in front of the best fans in the NHL.”
An embarrassment of riches
The Mammoth now have too many centers. You could also say their steak is too juicy and their lobster is too buttery.
League-wide, teams are always looking for centers. Guys that can play all 200 feet of the ice and win more face-offs than they lose simply don’t grow on trees.
The expectation is that Nick Schmaltz continues to center the top line, with Logan Cooley on the second. If Vincent Trocheck remains in the middle, he’ll likely be the third-line guy, with Kevin Stenlund holding down the fourth.
That would force both Hayton and Jack McBain to the wing — and if Tij Iginla and Caleb Desnoyers play a significant amount of games this season, they’ll have even more guys who play the middle.
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GM Bill Armstrong’s philosophy is that you need two guys on every line who can win face-offs because of how frequently NHL linesmen kick players out of the circle.
The Mammoth finished 23rd in the NHL in face-off percentage last season with a success rate of 49.2%. Their offseason moves should put them much higher in 2026-27.
It’s also worth noting that in the event of injury, which is almost inevitable in the NHL, the Mammoth are well-prepared down the middle.
“Barrett is a key piece of our team and important to what we are building here in Utah,” Armstrong said in the press release. “He’s strong in the face-off circle, plays both sides of the puck and can play with anyone in our forward group. We are grateful to be able to count on Barrett in our lineup next season.”
How good is Barrett Hayton?
As the No. 5 pick in the 2018 draft, expectations of Hayton have always been high. He was drafted one slot higher than Quinn Hughes, for goodness’ sake.
In the five seasons since he became a full-time NHLer, Hayton’s production has alternated: 40-something points one year, significantly fewer the next year. Back to the 40s the following year and back down the year after that.
He notched 25 points this past season, which doesn’t make a $4.775 million contract look great, but if he can continue his pattern and get his numbers back into the 40s, that’s a fair number.
Hayton also plays a significant role as a two-way forward.
Head coach André Tourigny trusts him to start nearly half of his shifts in the defensive zone; He only allowed 39 goals against this year, despite averaging more than 15 minutes of playing time over 67 games; He takes lots of hard matchups and he can occasionally fill in on the penalty kill.
In his exit interview, Hayton shared his plan to develop over the off-season.
“Just standard cliché: (get) bigger, stronger, faster,” he said. “And then just things within my game, face-offs, finishing around the net. I’m obviously a net-front player and kind of those in-tight areas, so just reps on reps with that and dialing that in further and those are kind of my main things right now.”