Barrett Hayton offer sheet is more complicated than you think
As the hockey world focused on teams signing unrestricted free agents to new contracts on Wednesday, it was the signing of a restricted free agent that caught the attention of many.
The New Jersey Devils have successfully tendered an offer sheet to Utah Mammoth restricted free agent center Barrett Hayton, a one-year deal with a $4.775 million cap hit. The Mammoth have seven days to either match the contract or let Hayton join the Devils and receive New Jersey’s 2027 second-round pick.
The deal is structured in a way that if the Mammoth match the Devils’ contract, they will not be able to trade Hayton for a full calendar year, and the 26-year-old would be able to walk directly to unrestricted free agency on July 1, 2027.
Follow along with Daily Faceoff’s live free agency tracker here
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the offer sheet and what the larger ramifications could be for the Mammoth organization.
Tyler Yaremchuk: What’s interesting is that the Devils and Mammoth had a train for Hayton at the NHL Draft that fell apart. So, what does Devils GM Sunny Mehta do? I think it’s fair speculation to say, “I’m just going to sign the guy.”
I think a lot of people look at Barrett Hayton and think a $4.6-million deal is easy to match. But if Utah does that, they aren’t allowed to trade him and he can walk right to unrestricted free agency.
Carter Hutton: He’s definitely a player, and now that you can’t trade him, he can just hit the market. But on the other side of this, I think of Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong and what he’s dealing with.
Now you have this laying over you. What kind of message did he just send to his organization? This is a big “eff you” to (Hayton), and I feel like that’s a big factor if you let him walk. I feel like he’s burned that relationship.
Bill Armstrong is a guy I dealt with firsthand in Arizona, and Barrett Hayton didn’t really shoot the lights out, when you consider that he was a high pick. The organization gave him a lot of chances, but he’s been averaging about 16 minutes a night since 2021-22.
There’s a factor of now you’re going to do this now when things are starting to turn around. I think this leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, and now Hayton is going to be a Devil before he knows it.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…