EDMONTON, CANADA - OCTOBER 28: Goaltender Stuart Skinner #74 and Jake Walman #96 of the Edmonton Oilers defend the net against Barrett Hayton #27 of the Utah Mammoth during the first period at Rogers Place on October 28, 2025 in Edmonton, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)
(Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – After originally filing for arbitration with restricted free agent Barrett Hayton on June 29, the Utah Mammoth are now against the clock as they have approximately 24 hours to respond to an offer sheet that was tendered by the New Jersey Devils.
Well then.
Hayton receives an offer-sheet.
We’ll see what the Mammoth do. That’s steep for Hayton IMO. https://t.co/d7fjs2sW5E
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) July 1, 2026
Just days after the Utah Mammoth filed for arbitration with Barrett Hayton, the New Jersey Devils decided to add another level of complexity to the situation by offer sheeting the restricted free agent on a one-year, $4.775 million dollar contract.
Because it was a team elected filing for arbitration, Hayton remained eligible for an offer sheet which presented the Devils with an opportunity to tempt the Mammoth with two possible yet less desirable outcomes.
Match the offer sheet and pay more for Hayton than they were originally comfortable with or let him walk and receive a second-round pick.
If the Mammoth do end up matching the offer, Hayton would not be eligible for trade for an entire year.
The crux of the decision facing Utah: If they match Barrett Hayton’s offer sheet from New Jersey, they’re not allowed to trade for one year, which would walk him right to unrestricted free agency next summer.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) July 1, 2026
According to senior crossover scout for Elite Prospects, Cam Robinson, there was a previous trade in place for Hayton between the Mammoth and Devils during the NHL draft.
However, according to Robinson, that deal ultimately fell through.
Sources say that Utah and New Jersey had a deal in place for Barrett Hayton at the draft that Utah pulled out of late.
— Cam Robinson (@Hockey_Robinson) July 1, 2026
Perhaps this was New Jersey’s way of playing hardball in response to the Mammoth reportedly pulling out of the deal late.
Before jumping to conclusions, one has to consider both sides of the situation.
For starters, matching the offer sheet would not be the worst thing in the world.
Barrett Hayton is a fine player who specializes in the faceoff circle (52.6 percent last season), goes to the net, battles in the dirty areas and shoots/draws left.
Barrett Hayton opens up scoring in Boston!
🚨1-0, Mammoth. pic.twitter.com/Sx94JBHveO
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 17, 2025
Why is that important?
If Hayton is allowed to walk, Utah would be left with only two left-handed centers (Logan Cooley & Jack McBain).
That’s potentially problematic as the team would be relatively unbalanced in the dot.
Additionally, as just a one-year contract, the two sides could part ways next season if expectations are not met.
Now for the counterargument.
Based on the original team elected arbitration, Hayton and the Mammoth likely didn’t see eye-to-eye during early contract negotiations.
Understandably, Hayton likely felt undervalued.
However, based on recent contracts signed by the Mammoth (Michael Carcone & Kailer Yamamoto), it’s hard to imagine that Utah would be overly thrilled to pay Hayton nearly $5M AAV.
With only 25 points in the regular season a year ago and continued injury concerns, the contract offered by New Jersey is arguably a fairly significant overpay.
Based on the AAV of Kevin Stenlund ($2.75M) and Vincent Trocheck ($5.625), a price closer to Stenlund’s would be favorable as a more accurate estimation of value.
Last season, Stenlund registered 18 points while winning 54 percent of faceoffs.
Meanwhile, Trocheck posted 53 points with a 57 percent success rate in the dot.
Considering those numbers, an AAV closer to around $3M would be a fair offer.
With a deadline of July 8, the Utah Mammoth have approximately 24 hours to make a decision on Hayton’s offer sheet.
In a recent press conference, while understandably declining to elaborate on the situation, GM Bill Armstrong shared how the front office plans to approach these types of scenarios.
“Chris and I sit there and go through these things all the time. It’s a mechanism that clubs use…There’s a lot of options that we can perform at this time. All I could say, teams use it, and it seems to be happening more and more in the NHL, and we’ll come up with what we feel is best for the team and where we move from here.”
Ultimately, Utah will have to decide which solution they prefer.
Overpay to retain Hayton for another year or let him walk and gain a second-round pick.
