The New Jersey Devils are coming off one of the best seasons in franchise history. Of course, that is exciting in its own right.
There are always going to be some hardships over an off-season for a good team like that and the Devils are no different.
The two biggest things that they came in needing to address are the contracts of both Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt.
We are still awaiting news on Timo Meier but we have an answer on Jesper Bratt. Bratt is going to spend all of his good years in New Jersey as he has signed an extension.
Hearing NJ and Jesper Bratt are closing in on an 8-year extension with a $7.875M AAV. Do the math and it’s $63M — which happens to be Bratt’s jersey number.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 15, 2023
The New Jersey Devils and Jesper Bratt have come to a contract deal.
He is getting an eight-year deal worth 63 million dollars (fitting number). That is a contract that carries an average annual value of 7.875 million.
That is a great number for the New Jersey Devils in every way. Eight years for Bratt entering his age 25 season is amazing. He might get another good contract again at 32 years old if he ages well but the best years of his prime will be with the New Jersey Devils.
This is a great number for both sides too. In addition to Bratt becoming a very rich man, the Devils are getting a great player at a fair number against the salary cap.
He is making right around the same amount of money as Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier which is what the team needed. The two centerman are slightly more valuable but all three of them are part of a very good core.
Bratt has earned a deal like this. He was a 6th-round pick and he earned his way onto the roster. In 389 NHL games, he has scored 102 goals and has 174 assists for 276 points.
He had 73 points on the dot in each of the last two seasons. He never had 35 points before that but he proved that his development has been amazing.
Scoring 30-plus goals and 70-plus points as a winger is big. There is a good chance he finds a way to top those numbers in the future as well which is very exciting.
Bratt is a big part of what the Devils are doing and he is sure to be there for the next eight years now.
Seeing the Devils get this done without breaking the bank just proves how successful Tom Fitzgerald is up to this point. Hopefully, Timo Meier is next and the Devils continue building toward that Stanley Cup.