The New Jersey Devils got their first key piece of offseason business done Thursday, signing Jesper Bratt to an eight-year, $63M extension. It’s a team-friendly $7.875M cap hit (in the short term, at least), which leaves the team still with upward of $25M of space this offseason, per CapFriendly. A good chunk of that will end up going to the team’s other star restricted free agent, Timo Meier, whom general manager Tom Fitzgerald said Friday wants to stay with the Devils long term. While the Devils did file for team-elected salary arbitration Thursday, it’s a safety net more than anything else – Fitzgerald has requested Meier’s agent to hammer out the framework of a max-term, eight-year extension.
Now with seven NHL seasons and nearly 500 games under his belt, the 26-year-old Swiss winger is coming off a four-year, $6M average annual value deal signed with the San Jose Sharks in 2019. He’s scored 35 and 40 goals in the last two seasons, and he’ll look to get paid like one of the premier goal-scorers in the league on a long-term deal.
While the Devils would prefer to keep a salary hierarchy among forwards under Jack Hughes’ $8M cap hit, that’s not likely on a long-term deal with Meier. While he won’t earn the eight figures due to him on a one-year qualifying offer, his cap hit across eight years could creep into the high $8M range.
Another player the Devils have on their offseason list is netminder Mackenzie Blackwood. Another restricted free agent, Fitzgerald wasn’t sure the team will opt to qualify him, negotiate a contract lower than his $3.36M qualifying offer, or cut ties with the 26-year-old altogether and trade him.
After another injury-plagued season that saw him post a .893 save percentage in 22 games, he’s decidedly slipped to third on the team’s goalie depth chart behind Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid. A trade seems like the most pragmatic scenario here, likely for a draft pick. The team has a well-stocked prospect pool in the crease with names like Nico Daws and others.
It’s been an unfortunate turn of the tide for Blackwood, who a few seasons ago seemed the organization’s goalie of the future – especially in 2019-20 when he posted a .915 mark in 47 games behind a rather weak squad.
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