Devils, star forward Jesper Bratt agree on 8-year contract extension

The New Jersey Devils and forward Jesper Bratt have agreed on an eight-year contract extension, the team announced on Thursday. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman first reported the terms of the deal, which will reportedly come in at an average annual value (AAV) of $7.86 million per season.

Bratt, who was scheduled to become a restricted free agent on July 1 after signing a one-year bridge deal with New Jersey last summer, is fresh off a career season with the Devils where he posted 32 goals and 73 points while suiting up in all 82 games.

The 24-year-old added a goal and five assists for six points in 12 playoff games before the Devils were eliminated by the Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs earlier this spring after knocking off the Rangers in seven games in Round 1.

Over 389 career National Hockey League games — all with New Jersey — Bratt has 102 goals and 276 points after the Devils shrewdly selected the Stockholm, Sweden native in the 6th round (162nd overall) of the 2016 draft.

The upstart Devils, meanwhile, have one less thing on their plate after the Bratt signing, but still have a lot to take care of this offseason with seven restricted free agents to lock up, including big-time trade-deadline acquisition Time Meier. The team's other pending free agents are goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, defenseman Kevin Bahl, and forwards Yegor Sharangovich, Miles Wood, Tomas Tatar and Eric Haula.

New Jersey already got things started last week, flipping pending unrestricted free agent blueliner Damon Severson in a sign-and-trade (eight years, $50 million) with the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a third-round pick.

The Devils have some money to play with this offseason, too, with around $26.4 million in available cap space as of this writing, per Cap Friendly.