Considering the past problems between the Devils and Bratt in contract negotiations, it wouldn't have been a long reach to figure that Meier would be the more likely of the duo to settle first.
However, it was Jesper Bratt, who the Devils will be welcoming back into the fold as New Jersey signed Bratt to an eight-year contract extension (Bratt technically would not be a free agent until July 1) worth sixty-three million dollars.
Bratt's contract starts high and dwindles as the agreement progresses from ten million for next season to the smallest amount of six million in the final year of the deal in 2030-31.
The twenty-four-year-old Bratt scored a career-high thirty-two goals last season and his seventy-three total points equaled his previous season, which was then a career-high.
Bratt is about as well-rounded offensively as a forward can be with both his shot and passing touch, and his defensive skills aren't a drag on the Devils either, so I think this is a deal that can wear well over the course of those eight years.
The Devils can now turn to an attempt to lock up Timo Meier for the long-term, which I would think would come soon as the Devils will have to send him a one-year, ten-million-dollar contract offer unless his extension can be agreed upon.
New Jersey's acquisition of Meier at the trade deadline cost them four prospects, their first-rounder in the upcoming draft, and their second-round choice in the 2024 draft, so general manager Tom Fitzgerald is motivated to lock Meier up and avoid having Meier leave as an unrestricted free agent following the 2023-24 season.
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