Utah Has Mammoth Decision To Make

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The Utah Mammoth are approaching the deadline to match the offer sheet signed by Barrett Hayton.

The NHL free agency period was barely underway when the New Jersey Devils dropped a bombshell on Utah, and the backstory is even more fascinating.

During a crazy Day 1 of Free Agency, the Devils tendered an offer sheet to restricted free agent (RFA) Barrett Hayton. His contractual rights are currently under Utah’s control. The proposed deal is reportedly a one-year deal worth $4.775 million. Hayton accepted the offer and signed the offer sheet. The Mammoth were given a week (July 8th) to match the offer.

However, the offer sheet is only part of the story. According to Cam Robinson, sources indicate that Utah and New Jersey had a trade for Hayton agreed upon at the draft. However, Utah decided to back out at the last minute. If accurate, this offer sheet seems more like a front office trying to settle a score.

Offer sheets are rare, and teams rarely deploy them. It’s mostly due to an unwritten code among general managers. However, when a deal you thought was as good as done gets pulled off the table, the time for playing nice goes out the window.

Utah Has a Decision to Make

The Mammoth has two more days to decide. If they match the offer, they will have to pay Hayton a salary they reportedly did not intend to pay. An added wrinkle is that a matched offer sheet prevents the team from trading the player for a full calendar year. So, whether they sign Hayton or not, he will become an unrestricted free agent next July anyway.

The alternative for Utah is to let him walk. Doing so will award the Mammoth a second-round draft pick as compensation. Seems like a low return for the former fifth overall selection from the 2018 draft.

New Jersey’s intentions for pursuing Hayton are clear. They have been seeking reinforcements up front, and targeting Hayton at that price ($4.775 million) suggests they believe he can help them. Overall, it feels like the Devils played Utah a bad hand, and maybe it had to do with that trade that collapsed at the last minute a week prior. All eyes now turn to Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong. He has two days to respond, but the sting of how this all came together may linger for a while.