We have a resolution to the first of two offer sheets tendered over the past week.

On July 1, the New Jersey Devils tendered an offer sheet to Utah Mammoth forward Barrett Hayton. The contract was a one-year, $4.775 million deal. After a week of deliberating, the Mammoth decided to match the offer sheet and retain the 26-year-old centreman.

Hayton was drafted fifth overall by the Arizona Coyotes franchise – now the Mammoth – in the 2018 NHL Draft. The pick was viewed as a bit of a reach based on positional need, leaving star defencemen Quinn Hughes, Evan Bouchard, and Noah Dobson still on the board.

Through his seven-year NHL career, Hayton has hit the 20-goal plateau once, capping out at 46 points in the 2024-25 season. In 358 NHL games, Hayton has scored 65 goals and 90 assists for 155 points with a career minus-28 rating in less than 16 minutes of average ice time. Although a serviceable middle-six option for the Mammoth, Hayton has yet to blossom into the projection of a fifth overall pick.

Despite signing with another team, Hayton had this message to Mammoth fans after Utah matched the offer:

“I’m fired up to get back with my teammates and remain in Utah. I’ve been with this core group for my whole career and it’s exciting that we have an opportunity to do some special things next season in front of the best fans in the NHL.”

Reportedly, the Mammoth and Devils had an offer during the draft that would have sent Hayton to New Jersey, but Utah pulled out of it late. The two sides could not reach an agreement after the draft, so the Devils decided to risk a 2027 second-round pick to extend an offer sheet for the forward.

However, another wrinkle in all of this is that the Mammoth cannot trade Hayton for the entire year. And considering the Devils signed him to just a one-year deal, it will walk him straight to unrestricted free agency next year. Now the Mammoth risk losing him for nothing next summer.

Along with retaining Hayton, the Mammoth brought in Anders Lee and Vincent Trocheck in free agency. Here is what their top-nine looks like for next season:

Looking at how the Devils’ top-nine shakes out, there is room for them to add another impact forward – ahem, Jake DeBrusk?

We mentioned the Devils as a potential suitor for DeBrusk if the Mammoth matches Hayton’s offer. You can read about that here.

The next domino to fall in the land of NHL offer sheets is what the Anaheim Ducks decide to do with Leo Carlsson. The Philadelphia Flyers tendered a five-year, $18 million AAV contract to the Ducks’ top centreman on July 3, making him the highest-paid player in the NHL on an annual basis. If the Ducks match, they handcuff themselves a bit in terms of the cap. But if they don’t, they lose a 21-year-old face-of-the-franchise-type centreman. The Ducks have until July 10 to decide. We will cover that here on CanucksArmy once that decision is announced.