The New Jersey Devils tendered an offer sheet to Utah Mammoth center Barrett Hayton on July 1 — one year at $4,775,000, the club announced. Utah holds the right of first refusal until July 8. If the Mammoth decline to match, New Jersey sends a 2027 second-round pick west as compensation.
Hayton, 26, recorded 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 67 games for Utah last season, per NHL.com. But the production isn’t the story here. The term is.
Offer sheets are rare enough — this is New Jersey’s first in two years — and the one-year structure is what makes this one sharp. Under the collective bargaining agreement, a team that matches an offer sheet cannot trade the player for a full season. So if Utah matches, it keeps Hayton at a price it didn’t set, loses the ability to move him, and watches him walk to unrestricted free agency next July with nothing coming back. If Utah passes, New Jersey lands an established NHL center for the cost of a second-rounder. TSN and Pro Hockey Rumors both flagged the squeeze: there is no clean exit for the Mammoth.
For the Devils, the fit is straightforward. Hayton is a former fifth overall pick who skates well, kills penalties, and can handle middle-six matchups behind captain Nico Hischier — depth down the middle for a roster built to play with pace, which is precisely where New Jersey’s identity lives. At $4.775 million on a single year, there is no long-term risk attached. If it works, the Devils get a prove-it season from a center entering his prime; if it doesn’t, the money comes off the books next summer.
Utah’s answer is due by July 8, and either one is informative. Match, and the Mammoth are paying a premium simply to delay a departure. Pass, and New Jersey will have turned a mid-round pick into a 26-year-old center one week into free agency.
