New Jersey Devils restricted free agent wing Jesper Bratt has agreed to an eight-year, $63 million contract extension with the team. The contract carries an average annual value and cap hit of around $7.875 million. The Devils had signed Bratt to a one-year bridge contract worth $5.4 million before this season. He was set to enter the offseason as a RFA, though the Devils had been working with Bratt’s camp to get a deal done all season.
New Jersey made the playoffs for the first time since 2018 this season, and just second appearance since the team lost in the Stanley Cup Final in 2012. A big reason for that was Bratt, who finished the season with 73 points (32 goals) in 82 games. That matched his total from 2021-22.
That consistency helped GM Tom Fitzgerald make the decision to sign Bratt long-term. The salary also falls in line with New Jersey’s other stars: Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. Hughes makes $8M annually and Hischier is at $7.25M on the cap. Now, the Devils will set their sights on signing RFA wing Timo Meier to a similar long-term deal, locking in its young core for the future.
As for the deal itself, it’s not bad. Bratt never made sense making more than Hughes, who is the teams best player. Bratt also went through lapses where he wasn’t productive last season, including the playoffs, when he had just one goal and six points in 12 games. Bratt is a solid top-6 wing and improved defensively. Consistency will be key moving forward but Bratt is also still 24 years old and can develop further.
After Bratt and Meier, the Devils aren’t finished this offseason. Nathan Bastian, Jesper Boqvist, Michael McLeod and Yegor Sharangovich are all restricted free agents in need of new deals. The Devils also have to make decisions on whether or not to bring back unrestricted free agents Erik Haula, Miles Wood and Tomas Tatar. So a lot for Fitzgerald to figure out before the NHL Draft, which starts on Wednesday, June 28.
On defense, the Devils need to give RFA Kevin Bahl a new deal. UFA Ryan Graves could also be brought back on a short-term deal to bridge the gap to Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec. The Devils executed a sign-and-trade with D Damon Severson, giving him an eight-year deal before sending him to the Columbus Blue Jackets.