Offseason Checklist: Utah Mammoth

Now, Hayton finds himself a restricted free agent this summer.  He’s eligible for salary arbitration and is only one year away from reaching unrestricted status.  With how up and down things have been so far in his career, both sides have a decision to make.  Does Utah want to make another multi-year commitment to a player whose spot on the depth chart has dropped a bit?  For that matter, does Hayton want to make a multi-year commitment knowing how the free agent market is for centers?

In 2024-25, Hayton looked like he might have turned the corner, setting new career highs offensively with 20 goals and 26 assists in 82 games.  However, he struggled this season, notching just 10 goals and 15 helpers in 67 contests.  A 20-something-point player would typically get a lot less in arbitration than a 40-something-point player but he has cracked 40 points in two of the last four years.  If things were to go to an arbitration hearing, that would certainly work in Hayton’s favor and likely push a one-year award past $4MM despite the poor platform campaign.

It wouldn’t be too surprising if Armstrong tried to offer another bridge deal, one that tacks on an extra year or two of team control.  The price tag for that could creep more toward the $5MM range but in a market where salary inflation is about to hit, he could still be tradeable if needed down the road.  But does Hayton want to commit to that or take the path that gets him to free agency quicker?  He has a few more weeks to make a decision on that front while the Mammoth have that long to determine what they think the best course of action will be offer-wise as well.

Look For Top-Six Grit

When embarking on a very long-term rebuild as this franchise has, the priority has been talent accumulation.  And Armstrong and his team have done a nice job of amassing a lot of skill.  But when it comes to their top six, there’s not a lot of diversification.  Beyond Lawson Crouse (who is extension-eligible this summer), it’s a largely finesse group.

During the regular season, the checking isn’t always as tight so this isn’t necessarily an issue at that time.  Utah had three players with more than 70 points and finished tenth in the league in goals scored (after finishing 20th the year before).  But against the Golden Knights in the first round, they struggled at times with the intensity and physicality.  Part of that is adapting to the first time being in the playoffs for a lot of those players but how things went should also be a learning experience for both the players and management.

In a perfect world, more top-six grit would allow them to balance out the lineup better.  Between Jack McBain, Michael Carcone, and Brandon Tanev, they have decent grit in the bottom six but even one more power forward type toward the top half of the roster would be a significant upgrade.

Of course, this is one of those easier said than done things.  There aren’t many top-six power forwards in free agency this summer (Mason Marchment could fit the bill, however) and they’re not the easiest to trade for.  However, they boast one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL and still have all of their first-round picks.  If there’s a power forward that becomes available in the coming weeks, they’d be wise to try to acquire him.

Defensive Insurance

With the acquisition of MacKenzie Weegar at the trade deadline, Utah now has their top five defenders in place for next season.  Better yet, four of them are signed for at least another year after that; only John Marino will hit unrestricted free agency in 2027.  (He’s also extension-eligible and talks seem likely to happen at some point this summer.)

Meanwhile, they have a pair of first-round prospects who have only really just gotten their feet wet at the NHL level, Dmitri Simashev and Maveric Lamoureux.  In an ideal world, one of them would have a strong off-ice summer and come to training camp ready to lock down a full-time spot on the roster, even if it’s just on the third pairing.  That’s a nice goal to have but the development curve of young blueliners is hardly linear; as such, there’s no guarantee one will be ready in the fall.

With that in mind, some insurance if the youngsters aren’t ready would be prudent.  They could opt to re-sign Ian Cole or bring in a similar veteran.  They could opt to add or re-sign a couple of depth pieces, ones who might have a shot at getting through waivers if need be.  Another one of their pending UFAs, Nick DeSimone, fits that bill.

A lot will depend on how much they have left to spend after getting through the other items on this list.  They only have around $13MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, and bringing in a goalie and re-signing Hayton probably eats up around half of that, if not a bit more.  If they’re able to add a power forward up front, their hands might be forced to more to the depth side on the back end.  If not, they should have enough flexibility to add a proven regular on the third pairing if they want their prospects to get more time in with the Roadrunners.