The Utah Mammoth matched the one-year, $4.775 million offer sheet tendered to forward Barrett Hayton by the New Jersey Devils.
By enacting refusal rights, the Mammoth are not allowed to trade Hayton for the next year, meaning he will remain with the team ahead of being eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer.
Utah would have received a second-round pick from New Jersey as compensation had the offer sheet gone unmatched.
“Barrett is a key piece of our team and important to what we are building here in Utah,” Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong said.
Hayton, 26, recorded 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 67 games last season.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.