In the end, the New Jersey Devils didn't make the Utah Mammoth's decision all that difficult.

While last week's offer sheet to Barrett Hayton had a structure that might have been a little bit of a problem — it pushes Utah over the cap, walks Hayton right up to unrestricted free agency and he cannot be traded, and all but $850,000 of the $4.775 million on it is paid as a bonus — in theory, in actual practice, it was not. The Mammoth will match the Devils' offer sheet, because they don't really need the second-round pick.

But this is just what had to happen. Utah is, despite being the Coyotes, a "new" team in a new market with new ownership that has shown it's willing to spend big bucks on things like a new practice facility, extensive (and expensive) arena renovations, and of course the big price tag to simply move the team. They could not be bullied by a team like New Jersey with this offer sheet reminiscent of when the Canadiens signed Sebastian Aho several years ago. The money simply wasn't enough to even make them think about it, and they only took the allotted week to match because it put New Jersey on its heels while they awaited this inevitable decision.

Full credit to the Devils, obviously, for trying, because we can never have enough offer sheets. And credit to Hayton, too, for getting a deal that sets him up nicely to take a step up in his pay scale when or if he hits the open market next summer. I like to think hockey’s a business and all involved (on the Utah side at least) can get back to dealing with each other cordially or whatever. I never got the sense there was bad blood here; New Jersey just came over the top with an offer that nearly doubled his salary and put him in a prime bargaining position for his first big UFA deal. How could he say no? And if it’s back with the only franchise he’s ever played for since he was drafted fifth overall, he probably isn’t too mad about the end result, even if the path wasn’t as linear as most restricted free agents’.

But this whole thing with Hayton's next step is interesting because he is coming off a pretty bad year.