Virtually all the Mammoth’s pending free agents expressed a desire to re-up on their contracts following Utah’s first-ever playoff berth during locker clean-out day Sunday. While their season ended Friday in a first-round Game 6 loss to the Golden Knights, UFA center Alexander Kerfoot (via Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports), center Kevin Stenlund (via Houston), winger Kailer Yamamoto (via Houston), and pending RFA middleman Barrett Hayton (via Cole Bagley of KSL Sports) all expressed a willingness to work on extensions over the next two months before potentially reaching the open market on July 1.
Among those, Yamamoto’s expression is most notable. The former first-round pick of the Oilers is coming off his second season in the organization. He landed a two-way deal with Utah after being non-tendered by the Kraken in 2024. He cleared waivers and ended up suiting up in 54 games for AHL Tucson, the most minor-league action of his career and his first of any kind in five years.
Yamamoto was spectacular in Tucson, notching 20 goals and 56 points with a +17 rating. That prompted Utah to bring Yamamoto back on an identical two-way deal despite not extending him a qualifying offer. That decision paid solid dividends over the course of 2025-26. He worked his way back onto the opening night roster as an extra forward and slowly worked his way up the depth chart amid some injuries and a search for more stable production from Utah’s middle six. He finished the year as a second-line winger alongside youngsters Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther, recording a goal and four assists in six playoff games in the process. His regular-season scoring line still ended up as a respectable 13-10–23 in 59 games.
Utah won’t want to rely on Yamamoto as a top-nine fixture long-term. They don’t need to with several top-15-drafted forwards still on the way. However, having him stick around for another couple of seasons as scoring depth seems to be an arrangement both sides could benefit from. If Utah doesn’t see the benefit in having Yamamoto slot back in a reduced role next season, though, it may not be up to him whether he sticks around in Salt Lake.
Kerfoot is the only one out of the aforementioned UFAs whose tenure in the organization dates back to the Arizona Coyotes. He signed a two-year, $7MM contract with Arizona in free agency in 2023 and re-upped with Utah in 2025 after the move for this year at a $3MM cap hit.
What followed was an injury-plagued season for the 31-year-old. He underwent core muscle surgery in late October after attempting to rehab his injury without surgery and didn’t make his season debut until mid-December. He then missed another lengthy stretch before the Olympic break with an upper-body issue. He was a consistent fixture in the lineup after that, though, although he saw reduced minutes as a result of being usurped by Stenlund for premier penalty-killing minutes.
When dressed, Kerfoot had seven goals and 13 points in 34 games. That was a small uptick from last year’s career-low 0.35 points per game but was still the second-worst output of his career. Now more of a defensive specialist as his scoring fades, there’s a chance Utah may decide there’s only room for one of him and Stenlund on the roster next season as names like Danil But push for full-time roles.
Stenlund is wrapping up the two-year deal he signed with Utah in 2024 after taking home a Stanley Cup ring with the Panthers. He enjoyed a career year with 14 goals in 2024-25 but shot at just 6.1% this year, bringing his scoring line down to 4-14–18 in 80 outings.
Stenlund’s still been a durable fourth-line pivot for the Mammoth and has averaged over 14 minutes per night in each of his two seasons there. A strong faceoff specialist and their most trusted defensive forward, he’s surely a name head coach Andre Tourigny would like to retain if the decision were up to him.
Hayton, 25, has just one year of team control left, so whatever deal he signs now will walk him to UFA status. He’s owed a $2.65MM qualifying offer that Utah can easily swallow, so there’s a fallback option. Given the season he had, taking his QO might be the best path forward for both sides.
Last year, the 2018 fifth-overall pick finally looked like he had what it takes to be a top-six center who brings most of his value on the defensive side of the puck. A lack of production had really limited him from being a factor, but he tickled the twine 20 times last season while centering the top line between Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz.
Hayton once again struggled to produce in 2025-26, though, limited to 10 goals and 25 points in 67 outings. That got him demoted from the top line with Schmaltz shifting over to center it, and injuries kept him in and out of the lineup down the stretch. No longer an obvious long-term piece, a one-year deal to walk him to the open market next summer seems like the most logical outcome.