Both the New Jersey Devils and Jesper Bratt have filed their desired salaries for the winger, both coming in at $2.35 million apart as his arbitration hearing approaches on August 1.
The Devils filed for a $4.15 million salary for Bratt, while he submitted $6.5 million. Bratt previously made $2.75 million a year on a two year contract, and is looking for a big pay raise after a career year.
Bratt put up almost a point-per-game pace this season in 76 games for the Devils, with 26 goals, 47 assists, and 73 points. All three totals are well past his career high, besting his previous highs of 16 goals in 2019-20, 25 assists in 2018-19, and 35 points in 2017-18.
While the scoring totals are new, Bratt has always been a playdriver, so it was only a matter of time before his points caught up with his play. He is certainly better at offense than defense, but it does not hinder his overall game, with a 51.4 percent shot attempt share and 53.73 percent expected goal share at even strength over the past three seasons, both which lead the Devils.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this situation with both parties as far apart as they are. Bratt has been on Frank Seravalli’s Trade Targets list in the past, but currently is not, and Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has said that they won’t trade Bratt either. That may be the case now, but relationships are usually tarnished in arbitration hearings. Perhaps the two parties push to come to an agreement before the hearing, especially with the new rule that once the hearing starts, they can’t turn back.
There are currently 10 players with a cap hit of Bratt’s filed salary of $6.5 million, a list highlighted by Chris Kreider, Sam Reinhart, and the recently signed Claude Giroux. Only Anthony Beauvillier has the $4.15 million cap hit that the Devils filed.
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