Devils Re-Sign Jesper Bratt Inside Salary Hierarchy

The New Jersey Devils have re-signed one of their high-profile restricted free agents forward Jesper Bratt to a new eight-year extension worth $63 million.

Hearing the Devils and pending RFA Jesper Bratt have agreed to an 8-year, $63-million contract carrying an $7.875 million AAV per season. @TSNHockey @TheAthletic

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— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 15, 2023

Bratt’s new contract carries an annual average value of $7.875 million. This number is similar to what Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki are getting for AAV with the Montreal Canadiens. And just like the Devils wanted inside a salary hierarchy.

Most comparable contracts to:
Jesper Bratt – $7.875M x 8

1. Kevin Fiala – $7.875M x 7
2. Andrei Svechnikov – $7.75M x 8
3. Cole Caufield – $7.85M x 8https://t.co/7vtEvfnPVn pic.twitter.com/hAYUsf68pX

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) June 15, 2023

And as you can see Bratt’s money in terms of real dollars goes down over the life of the eight-year contract which is a win for the team. Roughly $31.5 million, half of the $63 million is going to be paid out in signing bonuses.

#NJDevils Jesper Bratt's new contract breakdown:

2023-24: $10M
2024-25: $9M
2025-26: $9M
2026-27: $8M
2027-28: $7,2M
2028-29: $7,2M
2029-30: $6,6M
2030-31: $6M

Total $63M

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) June 15, 2023

Devils Re-Sign Jesper Bratt

The Devils found a hidden gem in Jesper Bratt. They drafted him in the sixth round of the 2016 NHL Draft. He made the Devils roster right of training camp at the start of the 2017-18 season. In the first game in the NHL, he recorded a goal and assist, and things took off from there. Bratt ended his rookie season with 35 points (13 goals and 22 assists) as the Devils made the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Over the past six seasons, Bratt is showing that he is only getting better as a player. Though at times he could be a little inconsistent and streaky. He is coming off back-to-back 73 points seasons. Bratt set a career-high with 32 goals during the 2022-23 season and 47 assists in the 2021-22 season.

Bratt began the year setting the Devils franchise record for the longest point streak to start the year at 11 games. Over those 11 games, Bratt recorded 16 points (five goals and 11 assists).

Bratt chose to bet on himself last offseason only signing a one-year deal worth $5.450 million. Now he is the second highest-paid forward on the team right behind Jack Hughes at $8 million AAV.

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This is exactly what Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald wanted when the negotiations started. Fitzgerald knew there was a deal in place if the player was willing to make it happen. This whole time the ball was in Bratt’s court. Fitzgerald also did not think this deal for Bratt was going to be as contentious as it had been in years past. But Fitzgerald wanted a salary hierarchy on the team with Hughes being the top-end end for forwards.

Hughes has a salary cap hit of $8 million a season, while captain Nico Hischier has a salary cap hit of $7.250 million a season. Bratt fell right under Hughes. And over time of the contract, if Bratt continues to progress, this contract will have value like the other two contracts do. Plus it shows the general manager he is committing to a winning organization. The Devils are building something special and they see him as part of the core.

“It was always a priority to keep Jesper Bratt here long term and both parties are thrilled that a deal was completed,” said Tom Fitzgerald via a press release. “I value and commend the commitment Jesper made to this organization. We believe that he is a special player and a key member of our core group of talent who will contribute towards the team’s long-term success, and organizational goal of bringing a Stanley Cup back to New Jersey.”

Like Fitzgerald, Bratt was confident he and the team would work out a new deal when the Devils had their locker cleanout after losing to Carolina in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“I have full confidence in my agent and Tom (Fitzgerald) that we’ll get (my contract) done,” Bratt said. “We’ll get it done. I’ll see you guys for the next couple of years to come.”

The time was now for the talking to stop. Even though Hughes was not talking to Bratt directly on the same day he told the media, “You can’t just talk about wanting to be in New Jersey, if you want to be in New Jersey you got to just sign the deal you know?” 

In 389 career regular season games, Bratt has recorded 276 points (102 goals and 174 assists). This is the most points recorded by any player drafted in the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft. The only critique will be Bratt’s playoff performance where he only had six points including one empty net goal. Those will have to get better. However, this contract is based off the regular season.

The Devils now focus their attention on Timo Meier and how he fits into the salary hierarchy. They now have 26,407,500 to sign the rest of their free agents.

But it is a good day for both the Devils and the player. Jesper Bratt gets the money he wants and Fitzgerald gets the player inside the pay structure he wants. Win-win.