The New Jersey Devils have a lot of great contracts on the books. Many consider Jack Hughes's deal, which comes with an $8 million annual cap hit, as one of the best deals in the league. Jesper Bratt has a phenomenal contract for his output, and the Devils get one more year of Nico Hischier at $7.25 million before his new $11.7 million contract kicks in.
However, because of the desperation of Tom Fitzgerald, the Devils have some bad contracts, especially on the defensive side. The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn ranked every team's cap sheet and all the contracts entailed. The Devils ranked well, landing 11th in the league with a lot of room to grow, but they were really impacted by some of the defensive contracts given out by Fitzgerald before he left.
Many might think that Johnny Kovacevic’s contract might be at the top of the list, and it’s definitely not great, but The Athletic’s equation actually gives Kovacevic positive value. Dougie Hamilton’s deal was one that Fitzgerald signed, but then he was desperately trying to get out of the deal last season.Â
Hamilton seems safe with the Devils now, as he was a relationship that Sunny Mehta prioritized in fixing when he returned, but this is still a contract that is worse off than it’s total value. Hamilton is making $9 million per season, which is more than a $1 million per season overpay. However, with just two years left, the total overage is just $3.3 million based on his $7.3 million yearly value.
Brenden Dillon was ranked as the worst value defenseman from a yearly standpoint, but he wasn’t the worst value overall since he has just one more year left. No, that distinction actually went to Brett Pesce.
Brett Pesce has the worst contract on the New Jersey Devils
When the Devils signed Pesce in the 2024 offseason, most thought they were getting great value. They signed the former Carolina Hurricanes player to a six-year deal worth $5.5 million per season. The consensus was that he was easily going to get $6+ million on the open market, so this looked like a gem by Fitzy.Â
Unfortunately, Pesce has not grown with the Devils. We just talked about how he was the worst in the league in goals scored with him on the ice last season. The Devils need more from Pesce in a big way this season.
This led to Pesce having a total of $5.4 million overpay for his total contract. The Athletic believes Pesce is worth just $4.2 million per season. With four more years left on his deal, that leaves him as the worst contract on the Devils right now.
Some might be curious about two controversial contracts on the books: Timo Meier’s $8.8 million deal and Luke Hughes’s $9 million salary. Hughes actually has positive value on his deal, but Meier is right behind Pesce with $5.2 million negative value. The Devils need much more from Meier, but that might be as obvious a sentence as can be said this offseason.Â
The Devils were given an A- grade for the entire team. Overall, they are in good shape for Sunny Mehta to make a big move, but they have some salaries that would work better in different organizations.Â
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