Barrett Hayton’s week of uncertainty ended the way he wanted it to: with Utah keeping him in Salt Lake City.
After a “stressful” and “unique” stretch, the 26-year-old forward said he felt immediate relief when the Utah Mammoth informed him they would match New Jersey’s offer sheet. Instead of heading to a new organization, Hayton will stay with Utah on a one-year, $4.775M deal.
“I was so excited,” Hayton told KSL Sports. “I’d always wanted to be in Utah…It was just a ton of relief when they notified me that they’d be matching.”
Hayton made it clear the feeling on his side never changed, even as the offer sheet situation played out. During an exclusive podcast interview with KSL Sports, he said, “I have a lot of pride in being a Utah Mammoth.”
That’s where the oddness of restricted free agency comes in. A player can want to stay put and still end up signing an offer sheet, because the process is built to create leverage.
In Hayton’s case, the Mammoth had elected arbitration, and the two sides likely weren’t aligned early in negotiations. An offer sheet from another club gave Hayton a path to a better number, while Utah still had the right to match.
That’s exactly what happened.
The Mammoth chose to keep a proven NHL player rather than take draft-pick compensation, and general manager Bill Armstrong said the decision fit the reality of the league.
“It’s just business,” Armstrong noted. “Players want to get paid, they want to make as much money as they can in their lifetime, we get it.
There’s no hard feelings between us and New Jersey. We called them and said we’re going to match.
There’s no hard feelings between the club and Barrett Hayton.”
“We have really good relationships with the players, the player’s agent, and also New Jersey. There’s no hard feelings.
It’s just doing business, and it’s a part of the NHL, it’s a part of the CBA. We have to respect the process.”
Armstrong also explained why Utah valued Hayton enough to match instead of taking a second-round pick.
“A second round pick has a 30% chance to play in the NHL…It doesn’t make a lot of sense. We don’t need a pick off in the future.”
“We need a player that’s a proven NHL player.”
Hayton echoed that nothing about the process turned personal.
“Throughout the entire process there was no hard feelings,” Hayton told KSL Sports. “There was nothing like that.
It was all professional. All business.”
“I think Bill really summed it up well in his media availability. Ultimately, when you go into negotiations it’s all love between the player and the team. Both sides made that well known throughout and I think that was a big thing that was always there…the entire process was very professional.”
Now that the deal is done, Hayton is looking ahead to what comes next with the Mammoth’s core group. He said he’s focused on helping Utah take another step when the postseason arrives next spring.
“Feeling that pride and embrace from the community means everything,” Hayton told KSL Sports with a grin on his face. “I still can’t even wrap my head around the playoff environment and the feel in the city. We as players have so much pride in that.”
“Everyone knows how hungry we are going into the season to bring that pride back, take that next step, and share that with our fanbase.”
In Other News...
Utah Is Entering The NHLs Most Brutal Division At The Worst Time
The Central Division already looks like a grind, and that is before Utah fully settles into the mix. Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota have spent the past few seasons setting the standard, while Winnipeg, St. Louis, Nashville and Chicago all bring their own level of unpredictability to a race that rarely offers much breathing room. For a team trying to climb quickly, the timing could hardly be tougher.
Utah did not sit quietly this summer, either, and the additions it made are enough to change how the division is viewed on paper. The question is whether those moves are enough to push the Mammoth into the postseason conversation right away, or whether the sheer depth of the Central keeps even an improved roster on the outside looking in. Either way, this is shaping up as one of the leagues most unforgiving paths to a playoff spot. [Read more 🡒]