New Jersey Devils sign Jesper Bratt to eight-year, $63 million contract

The New Jersey Devils are set to sign forward Jesper Bratt to an eight-year contract worth $63 million.

Bratt’s AAV will sit at $7.875 million, giving him the second-highest cap hit among Devils forwards behind Jack Hughes ($8 million) and third overall behind Dougie Hamilton ($9 million).

Bratt was set to become an RFA on July 1 after completing his one-year deal worth $5.45 million. That same salary would have been the cost of his qualifying offer.

The contract will run from 2023-24 until 2030-31.

The deal should leave the Devils with roughly $27 million in cap space. The Devils have a host of other RFAs this summer, with decisions needing to come on Timo Meier, MacKenzie Blackwood, Nathan Bastian, Jesper Boqvist, Michael McLeod, Yegor Sharangovich and Kevin Bahl. Erik Haula, Tomas Tatar, Miles Wood and Ryan Graves are all pending UFAs.

Bratt, 24, has spent his entire NHL career with the Devils since getting selected with the 162nd pick in 2016. Bratt is coming off of two consecutive 73-point seasons, a massive bump from his previous 30-35-point campaigns he had from 2017-21.

One of New Jersey’s most valuable forwards, Bratt was one of four players on the Devils to break the 70-point barrier. Hughes (99), Nico Hischier (80) and Hamilton (74) were the others.

“It was always a priority to keep Jesper Bratt here long term and both parties are thrilled that a deal was completed,” GM Tom Fitzgerald said in a team statement. “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 the Stanley Cup back to New Jersey.”