Timo Meier

The Devils have a tall task ahead of them as Bratt and Meier need new deals, but Hughes's contract shouldn't be the measuring stick.

Fitzgerald is smart enough to see what the market is and see where he needs to go to make a competitive offer that will ensure Bratt and Meier remain Devils for the foreseeable future. The idea that the Devils would be too top-heavy is a myth, and the idea that everyone should take less is unrealistic. But if Fitzgerald wants the player to be here, and the player wants to be here, and the money is there and they agree on X, Y, and Z, what’s the holdup? All the while, the Devils are spinning their wheels and wasting the primes of the players they have now. Fitzgerald’s obligation is to the Devils to keep the number as low as possible with the team’s best interests in mind while the agent’s obligation is to their client to get as much as they can. McAvoy is one of the best defensemen in the league and his $9.5M AAV salary is in line with what Cale Makar and Adam Fox are making. They’re also a franchise that spends to the cap ceiling every year and aggressively pursues players to fill holes in their roster. Remember, this is YEAR ONE of that deal and YEAR ONE of the Devils competitive window. He was one of the best goalies of his era and was compensated as such. Now that he got his guy in Meier and has a homegrown Devil in Jesper Bratt who both need a new deal, is Fitzgerald all of a sudden going to draw the proverbial line in the sand at $8M, take it or leave it? After watching a decade of losing hockey, I’d be happy that the Devils are consistently getting to the playoffs in the first place like how Toronto typically does. Bratt has shown over the last two seasons that he can produce at nearly a PPG clip, and perhaps more impressively, he has shown he can do it regardless of who his linemates are.