Mammoth make Barrett Hayton contract decision after Devils offer sheet

Mammoth make Barrett Hayton contract decision after Devils offer sheet originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Utah Mammoth and New Jersey Devils had the NHL world in a little bit of suspense.

The suspense is over. The Mammoth have made their decision on Barrett Hayton’s contract after the New Jersey Devils and the center had agreed to an offer sheet.

In the end, the Mammoth decided to match the offer made to their unrestricted free agent.

“Hayton now has a one-year, $4.775M contract and cannot be traded until next July, after he is scheduled to become a UFA,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman wrote on X on Wednesday as he broke the news. “Any player signed to a one-year contract is eligible to extend after Jan. 1, though.”

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Not everyone was expecting this. The Devils seemingly offered Hayton just enough to give the Mammoth pause.

Apparently, they decided he was worth keeping around even at that price.

If Utah hadn’t matched the contract, New Jersey would’ve sent a second-round pick to the Mammoth.

Hayton is a former No. 5 overall pick, and in the last four seasons total, he has played 264 games and put up 124 points.

He’s likely a third-line center, although the rest of the offseason will determine how exactly Utah plays to move him.

This does force the Devils to get creative with that cash. They couldn’t spend it elsewhere while they waited for the Mammoth’s decision, and now a bunch of players are off the board that have signed between when the offer sheet was agreed upon and now.

New Jersey’s new front office has to get to work, while Utah’s has brought back a reliable player.

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