It took until the last minute, but the New Jersey Devils got a deal done with Jesper Bratt ahead of their arbitration hearing on Wednesday. The Devils and Bratt moved quickly to avoid arbitration as arbitration rarely leads to a happy camp on either said.
The deal that the Devils and Bratt made today gives each team another year to figure out where things are at. Bratt signed a one-year contract worth $5,450,000 this gives him a nice sum of money and shows how important he is to the team after being drafted in the sixth round in 2016.
The rumor was that the Devils were looking for 4.15 million while Bratt was looking for closer to 6.5. This 5.4 million dollar deal lets each side walk away happy as it is a number in the middle that both sides can probably get behind.
Bratt put up 73 points in 76 games this past season for the Devils. He was playing more than he had in his entire career averaging 17:26 minutes a night and he had a terrific season because of it.
I think the Devils are hoping that they have to give Bratt a pay raise next summer as this is a prove-it deal. If Bratt can go out again in 2022-23 and be a point-per-game player, then he is going to be rewarded next offseason, but if his numbers go back down to where they were at before this past season then maybe the two parties will agree on a smaller number or move on.
Here are Bratt’s career stats to date:
Bratt is only 24 years old and has a lot of great hockey ahead of him. With Bratt now re-signed The Devils have a little over three million in cap space to work with for next season, and they still have Miles Wood unsigned looking for a contract.
Bratt now has the fourth most expensive contract amongst the forward group. Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Ondrej Palat all make more than him. That is a good top four group of forwards to build around. Maybe next summer Jesper Bratt will also be able to add some playoff stats to his resume when negotiating his next contract.
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