​The Utah Mammoth have matched the New Jersey Devils’ offer sheet for Barrett Hayton. 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 valued at $4.775 million, with a signing bonus of $3,925,000—the maximum allowed for this type of deal. It carries a one-year term, setting Hayton up to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
There’s a caveat to matching an offer sheet: the team cannot trade the player for a full year from the day it matches. In Hayton’s case, the contract is only one year long, after which he becomes a UFA. This means the Mammoth won’t be able to trade Hayton unless he re-signs with them next year. His name has appeared in every trade rumor in recent years, but those rumors will quiet now. The Mammoth now face a glut of centers. In a sense, you could say their steak is too juicy and their lobster too buttery.
League-wide, teams constantly seek two-way centers who can play 200 feet and win more face-offs than they lose; such players don’t grow on trees. The expectation is that Nick Schmaltz will continue to center the top line, with Logan Cooley on the second. If Vincent Trocheck remains in the middle, he’ll likely skate as the third-liner, with Kevin Stenlund anchoring the fourth. That scenario would push both Hayton and Jack McBain to the wings, and if Tij Iginla and Caleb Desnoyers log a substantial number of games this season, the Mammoth will have even more players who play down the middle. General Manager Bill Armstrong’s philosophy has always been that you need two players on every line who can win face-offs because linesmen frequently break up the circle.
The Mammoth finished last season 23rd in the NHL in face-off percentage, with a success rate of 49.2%. Their offseason moves are designed to lift that number higher in 2026-27. It’s also worth noting that, in the event of injury (an almost given in the NHL), the Mammoth are well-prepared down the middle. Hayton, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2018 draft, has always carried high expectations. He was drafted one slot ahead of Quinn Hughes, a juxtaposition that underscored the pressure on him. In the five seasons since becoming a full-time NHLer, Hayton’s production has swung: he posted 40-something points in one year, dipped the following year, rose again into the 40s the year after, and then declined again the year after that. He recorded 25 points this past season, a figure that does not scream a $4.775 million cap hit—but if he can return to the 40-point range, the contract could look more reasonable.
Hayton also contributes significantly as a two-way forward. Head coach André Tourigny trusts him to start nearly half of his shifts in the defensive zone; he helped the team limit goals against, allowing only 39 goals against this year, while logging more than 15 minutes per game.