Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald has been a busy man the past few days. Fresh off his acquisition of Timo Meier, Fitzgerald joined the NHL Network yesterday where he revealed that he is involved in extension talks with pending restricted free agent Jesper Bratt.
Bratt opted to bet on himself last summer by signing a one-year deal for $5.45MM. The move has paid off for the pending restricted free agent, as he is sitting at nearly a point a game in what has been another strong season.
The Devils have just four forwards from their current lineup that are signed for next season, meaning any potential extension with Bratt would alleviate some pressure off Fitzgerald in what is sure to be a busy summer. The Devils would still need extensions for the newly acquired Meier, as well as Ryan Graves, Damon Severson, and Miles Wood. All of whom are unrestricted free agents on July 1st.
Say good bye to Severson & Wood. Both are way too expensive for the line pairing & roles they play (4th Off line and 3rd def line). Graves & Marino are one of the better defensive tandems in the league, I’d try resigning him, but understand if his $ is needed for Bratt & Meier and his roster spot for Luke Hughes.
I hear you, but losing Myles Woods means losing some of the much-needed and actually limited amount of “crash and bang” from the team… in fact that BMW line is really the only that consistantly provides that grit. Palat really needs to get contributing, so far he’s mostly been un-productive. This club needs to get tougher and a guy like the Rangers’ Trouba would be fantastic… maybe get Stevens or Danecko or Colin White to come out of retirement!!! Good offence scores goals, good defence wins Cups.
In the Offseason they can find cheaper replacements to Wood’s current $3.5M salary for that physicality.