Utah HC re-signs center Barrett Hayton to two-year contract

The Utah Hockey Club has signed center Barrett Hayton to a two-year contract extension worth $2.65 million per season, the club announced Monday afternoon.

Hayton, 24, missed most of the 2023-24 season while recovering from various injuries but, when healthy, collected three goals and 10 points in 33 games with the Arizona Coyotes.

The Coyotes originally selected Hayton with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. The Peterborough, Ontario product played most of the last three seasons in Arizona on a line with wingers Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz.

“We are very pleased to sign Barrett to an extension,” Utah general manager Bill Armstrong said in a media release on Monday. “Barrett is a reliable two-way center who is strong in the face-off circle and is a great complement down the middle to our high-skilled forwards. We look forward to having him back with our organization.”

During his junior career with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds, Hayton captained Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, scoring six goals and 12 points in seven games.

Hayton made his NHL debut with the Coyotes during the 2019-20 season and split the following year between the NHL and AHL. He finally established himself as an NHL regular in Arizona in the 2021-22 season, collecting 10 goals and 24 points in 60 games.

In the 2022-23 season, Hayton cemented his spot on Arizona’s top line with Keller and Schmaltz, setting career highs with 19 goals and 43 points while skating in all 82 games for the first time in his NHL career.

Hayton’s previous two-year contract with the Coyotes ran from 2022 to 2024 and carried a $1.775 million cap hit. He became a restricted free agent on July 1, although he elected not to file for salary arbitration last week.

Through 209 career NHL games over parts of five seasons in Arizona, Hayton has collected 35 goals and 84 points. He went scoreless in three playoff games with the Coyotes in 2020.