Confirmed with Link: Arbitration Avoided, Bratt Signs for 1 year, $5.45 million

[NJ Devil]

The crux of the problem. You’re blathering without knowing what was offered or what Bratt wanted. It obviously wasn’t satisfactory for Bratt’s camp so he decided to take a 1 year deal. Are you not seeing how Bratt having another year like last year makes Fitz more willing to give him a number closer to what his ask was?

All of your shit about likelihood of signing a deal and the supposedly damaged relationship is BS.

No its based in reality

You cant name a player Fitzgerald has had issues negotiating with. There is no precedent for him low-balling Bratt

Yet there is precedent with Bratt being a hard negotiation

But youll ignore the latter for the former since it favors the player over the GM, and as a fan you refuse to believe Jesper may not care about the Devils as much as he does his next big contract.

The writing is oh so clearly on the wall and its almost the same with every player-elected arbitration case. HE chose this not us. Thinking anything else is just copium

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

So is Bratt stringing us along?

I mean we won't know most likely until next year. If Bratt takes another one year deal by stalling out on NJ then yes but this could've been Fitz and his agent just disagreeing with a long term deal due cap rising implications, Bratt having one great year (although I think his underlings have been great for a while, so hes a worthy investment in long term) and some other issues. I used the Fiala example but Fiala was also 2 years older with a bit of a better track record too. You'd have to open talks with Bratt asap for next contract and see where him and his agent's heads are at. If they plan on stalling again, then the Devils have to trade him because you can't lose him in 2024 for nothing.

 

[devilsblood]

Im not sure how one could have seen arbitration as a bad thing, but then this 1-year deal prior to it as sufficient. History shows 1-year deals after or right before arbitration usually spell the player being moved within a years time.

We essentially went to arbitration. The relationship has been strained, this wasnt some ultimate ploy to buy time for Jesper to increase his value.

Theres no need for the copium thats going on and trying to convince others of things that arent relevant or true. Cap space did not have any part in this as we had plenty when he said no to long-term and it isnt rising next year either, cant go up more than 2.5. And Fitzgerald willingly used up the cap space to sign Bratt with no fall-back plan if he did sign for long-term? Very doubtful and just simply illogical, to lock out your best player from being able to sign.

Jesper made his decision. He wants to get to UFA quicker. Seeing anything past this or 'maybe he wanted to prove it again this year for a bigger payday' like as if we didnt pay Hischier Jack and Siegenthaler based on less than a PPG, 70+GP season with advanced stats in the McDavid territory.

Thats just the cold hard facts of this and.. well, anyone trying to spin it as if its a non-chalant thing to happen (agreeing to a 1-year deal hours before arb) and that the next negotiations will be in any way a substantial difference.. theyre just trying to trick themselves into a good nights sleep is all.

This is the first big road block for Fitzgerald's Devils. Lets see how he handles it.

Whats does “usually” mean exactly? More then 50%? More then 70%? Even in the latter case you have significant wiggle room.


And Bratt’s situation does differ from many examples in the past because of the flat cap and the age to which an 8 year deal would take it.

I think the situation here is Bratt’s agent wants to maximize Bratt’s career income. If so then the question is does Fitz want to be on the other side of that contract?

 

[czechmate88]

Trading his best bro Zacha has left him uneasy about staying long term. And for a Finn nonetheless! Swedes and Finns are natural enemies. Like Englishmen and Scots! Or Welshmen and Scots! Or Japanese and Scots! Or Scots and other Scots! Damn Scots! They ruined Scotland!

 

[Zippy316]

Well if Bratt wanted to be here long-term the deal would have been done already. I get that as a fan the in-thing right now is for people to believe that Fitzgerald, for some reason, low-balled Bratt with a disrespectful number like he has never done anyone else on the team...

But also youre right, Fitz wasnt supposed to sit on his thumb. But what else he wasnt gonna do? Prevent Bratt from signing long-term if he wanted to. The offseason has a 10% escalator on the cap, and we easily could have fit Bratt in at 8m a year. Even if a move was needed before the season starts, thats what Fitz would have done (or when Bernier hits LTIR at seasons start). Hell, theres enough money today without an escalator to fit Bratt at 8.5m.

We dont need press clippings or leaked audio to see whats going on here. Bratt did not want term unless at a ridiculous number, because our GM hasnt shorted anyone else yet so why would he our best scorer last year? I understand that as a fan you always side with the players.... but its really evident this is on Bratt's side and not Fitzgerald.

Theres nothing wrong with Bratt wanting to get to UFA quicker; thats his contractual right as a player. But it doesnt mean we as fans have to lie to ourselves about whats going on. This is a shitty situation that likely ends with Jesper parting ways.

Him signing a long-term extension equal to or more than 5years after this season is extremely low and almost unprecedented in arbitration cases (and ones ended right before).

If Bratt signed a long term deal today, it’s likely an AAV of 6.5-7 with his track record of only one very strong year. Let’s say 6.5 to keep it simple. That would make him 52 million and bring him to UFA at the age of 33. The likelihood of him getting another big pay day at 33 is very small so probably only makes another 5 million. So 57 million in career earnings.

Bratt signing a one year deal at 5.45 means if he follows up with another strong season the he’s looking at a Fiala deal at minimum, maybe more if the cap goes up. Let’s say 8x8 he signs after a PPG season. That would make him 69.45 million over that span and bring him to UFA at age 34. I doubt he would make much more money after that unless he was elite over that contract.

It makes the most sense for Bratt to bet on himself with a one year deal. His career earnings are likely 15 million higher (maybe even more if there’s inklings the cap will start to rise). As a Devils fan, I would’ve loved to have Bratt at 6.5 long term, but that really only makes sense for the Devils.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

No its based in reality

You cant name a player Fitzgerald has had issues negotiating with. There is no precedent for him low-balling Bratt

Yet there is precedent with Bratt being a hard negotiation

But youll ignore the latter for the former since it favors the player over the GM, and as a fan you refuse to believe Hesper may mot care about the Devils as much as he does his next big contract.

The writing is oh so clearly on the wall and its almost the same with every player-elected arbitration case. HE chose this not us. Thinking anything else is just copium

Why does this specifically matter? We don't know the details of the long term contract that he offered. Judging by the arbitration numbers and Bratt and his agent picking 6.5Mx1, the gap in a long term contract was probably there as well. There's so many factors in this situation that make it difficult to blame one side. Bratt probably wants short term to get another contract in his prime + cash in on the cap rising. The Devils + Fitz probably want him under team friendly contract which I also get. At the same time, eventually the Devils are going to have to overpay a homegrown talent to stay, we can't keep getting discounts like we did on Jack and Nico for every player. Blaming a player for wanting for whats best him and his family is weirdo behavior. Bratt doesn't owe this team or franchise anything, lol.

 

[NJ Devil]

Whats does “usually” mean exactly? More then 50%? More then 70%? Even in the latter case you have significant wiggle room.


And Bratt’s situation does differ from many examples in the past because of the flat cap and the age to which an 8 year deal would take it.

I think the situation here is Bratt’s agent wants to maximize Bratt’s career income. If so then the question is does Fitz want to be on the other side of that contract?

Maximizing Bratts contract means reaching UFA. Thats the true maximum as Jesperwill have made more in these nezt two yers then the eighth year only we can offer.

So if he wants to maximize earnings, than its exactly how we thought; Bratt eants to race to UFA

Second time now his agent has backed us into a corner, across two GMs. This isnt a Fitz issue its a Bratt's agent and Bratt issue. The sooner Devils fans realize this the quicker theyll begin to calm down, otherwise good luck expecting a clean negotiation for another year from today....

Fool me once, fool me twice.. The insanity is repeating something over and over... Thats whats basically going on here. Devils fans are being fooled into thinking this isnt a Jesper Bratt and agent issue. Its fandom's big downside, never thinking the players are wrong

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

No its based in reality

You cant name a player Fitzgerald has had issues negotiating with. There is no precedent for him low-balling Bratt

Yet there is precedent with Bratt being a hard negotiation

But youll ignore the latter for the former since it favors the player over the GM, and as a fan you refuse to believe Jesper may not care about the Devils as much as he does his next big contract.

The writing is oh so clearly on the wall and its almost the same with every player-elected arbitration case. HE chose this not us. Thinking anything else is just copium

Name me a player with a career like Bratt’s? His situation is very unique. He’s had underlying numbers that indicated for a while that an explosion was coming and it came. But the traditional counting stats aren’t like that of a player that gets a big time extension. If he does it again, Fitz will up the offer.

I’m not going to wet my pants because a player negotiates hard. You can do that, be my guest.

 

[NJ Devil]

If Bratt signed a long term deal today, it’s likely an AAV of 6.5-7 with his track record of only one very strong year. Let’s say 6.5 to keep it simple. That would make him 52 million and bring him to UFA at the age of 33. The likelihood of him getting another big pay day at 33 is very small so probably only makes another 5 million. So 57 million in career earnings.

Bratt signing a one year deal at 5.45 means if he follows up with another strong season the he’s looking at a Fiala deal at minimum, maybe more if the cap goes up. Let’s say 8x8 he signs after a PPG season. That would make him 69.45 million over that span and bring him to UFA at age 34. I doubt he would make much more money after that unless he was elite over that contract.

It makes the most sense for Bratt to bet on himself with a one year deal. His career earnings are likely 15 million higher (maybe even more if there’s inklings the cap will start to rise). As a Devils fan, I would’ve loved to have Bratt at 6.5 long term, but that really only makes sense for the Devils.

No team is allowing Bratt or any player to take them to the edge of UFA just so they can improve earnings

Are we suggesting to let Bratt walk all over us until arbitration day next year, until we cave at his maximum demand?

Fitzgerald isnt about to let a guy known for hard negotiations make it that far. Either Bratt will come down on his offer mid-season or he will be moved prior to the deadline. The Devils arent about to lose him for nothing and be forced into another 1-year arbitration deal (which is possible since itd have to be team-elected, Bratt wouldnt elect again and cant)

Im really not sure why everyones siding with Bratt here. It was PLAYER-ELECTED arbitration. This is more about what he wants than what we offered.

 

[ninetyeight]

Actually, we do. Presuming Wood gets 3M and we have a 14th forward at around 1M, we're still over the cap.

We have signed everyone except Wood and have 3.27m cap left. Woods QO was 3m, but he played 3 games and is still injured. I doubt he gets more than 2.5m even if it goes to arbitration.

If my math is wrong feel free to correct me though..

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Maximizing Bratts contract means reaching UFA. Thats the true maximum as Jesperwill have made more in these nezt two yers then the eighth year only we can offer.

So if he wants to maximize earnings, than its exactly how we thought; Bratt eants to race to UFA

Second time now his agent has backed us into a corner, across two GMs. This isnt a Fitz issue its a Bratt's agent and Bratt issue. The sooner Devils fans realize this the quicker theyll begin to calm down, otherwise good luck expecting a clean negotiation for another year from today....

Fool me once, fool me twice.. The insanity is repeating something over and over... Thats whats basically going on here. Devils fans are being fooled into thinking this isnt a Jesper Bratt and agent issue. Its fandom's big downside, never thinking the players are wrong

And he'll get traded once he indicates that to Fitz, similar situations happened with DeBrincat, Tkachuk, Fiala this summer. And all of them got decent trade packages as returns. A team will trade for an elite young forward like Bratt, the problem is the Devils would need a piece like Bratt in return. Maybe if SJ is in tough with Timo Meier but I'm not sure how the exact details would work.

 

[NJ Devil]

Name me a player with a career like Bratt’s? His situation is very unique. He’s had underlying numbers that indicated for a while that an explosion was coming and it came. But the traditional counting stats aren’t like that of a player that gets a big time extension. If he does it again, Fitz will up the offer.

I’m not going to wet my pants because a player negotiates hard. You can do that, be my guest.

Im not wetting my pants, but im also not going to be a fool and think he will negotiate in good faith the third time around

So if Bratt wanted 8m a year on term, he wont want 9m a year on term next yesr when he inevitably plays as well or better? So then whats the difference?? His pricr went up as our price went up. Back to square 1.

Seriously, this is very commonly how it goes among player-elected arbitration and the Athletic has an article on it detailing this.

You can think otherwise but in no way will Jesper Bratt ever be signing here for long-term. That ship has sailed and the sooner you realize it, the better itll be for you when hes gone.

 

[Billdo]

I think if it's clear he won't sign here, which all signs kind of point to at this point, we'd be looking at a guy who is already signed by a team that has regressed and is looking to tear it down and use Bratt as a piece to build around.

 

[glenwo2]

Im not sure how one could have seen arbitration as a bad thing, but then this 1-year deal prior to it as sufficient. History shows 1-year deals after or right before arbitration usually spell the player being moved within a years time.

We essentially went to arbitration. The relationship has been strained, this wasnt some ultimate ploy to buy time for Jesper to increase his value.

Theres no need for the copium thats going on and trying to convince others of things that arent relevant or true. Cap space did not have any part in this as we had plenty when he said no to long-term and it isnt rising next year either, cant go up more than 2.5. And Fitzgerald willingly used up the cap space to sign Bratt with no fall-back plan if he did sign for long-term? Very doubtful and just simply illogical, to lock out your best player from being able to sign.

Jesper made his decision. He wants to get to UFA quicker. Seeing anything past this or 'maybe he wanted to prove it again this year for a bigger payday' like as if we didnt pay Hischier Jack and Siegenthaler based on less than a PPG, 70+GP season with advanced stats in the McDavid territory.

Thats just the cold hard facts of this and.. well, anyone trying to spin it as if its a non-chalant thing to happen (agreeing to a 1-year deal hours before arb) and that the next negotiations will be in any way a substantial difference.. theyre just trying to trick themselves into a good nights sleep is all.

This is the first big road block for Fitzgerald's Devils. Lets see how he handles it.

All this is telling me is that what you're saying is this :

No matter what happens, Bratt is gone.

And while I do see this being a likely scenario, I would rather remain hopeful it's not.

 

[Devils731]

We have signed everyone except Wood and have 3.27m cap left. Woods QO was 3m, but he played 3 games and is still injured. I doubt he gets more than 2.5m even if it goes to arbitration.

If my math is wrong feel free to correct me though..

The lowest Wood can get in arbitration is $2.975 million, 85% of his qualifying offer and the Devils can not walk away.

So any deal for 1 year has that number as the floor and any multi-year deal would still have the possible arbitration as some function of the contract’s overall value.

Devils would need to be 100% sure of Wood’s medical to do a multi-year deal. I don’t think the Devils can be 100% sure.

 

[devilsblood]

Maximizing Bratts contract means reaching UFA. Thats the true maximum as Jesperwill have made more in these nezt two yers then the eighth year only we can offer.

So if he wants to maximize earnings, than its exactly how we thought; Bratt eants to race to UFA

Second time now his agent has backed us into a corner, across two GMs. This isnt a Fitz issue its a Bratt's agent and Bratt issue. The sooner Devils fans realize this the quicker theyll begin to calm down, otherwise good luck expecting a clean negotiation for another year from today....

Fool me once, fool me twice.. The insanity is repeating something over and over... Thats whats basically going on here. Devils fans are being fooled into thinking this isnt a Jesper Bratt and agent issue. Its fandom's big downside, never thinking the players are wrong

I said Bratt is trying to maximize his career income so im not beng fooled into anything.

But if we sign hom next year to a big contract is it true that he would make more in ufa? Im not sure about that.

Im not saying fitz was low balling but very possible he is willing to offer a bigger contract next offseason.

 

[glenwo2]

eventually the Devils are going to have to overpay a homegrown talent to stay, we can't keep getting discounts like we did on Jack and Nico for every player.

 

[NJ Devil]

For those who are claiming this is a way to get Bratt more money with us but still stay long-term, I implore you to answer this simple question if you can:

Premise: Jesper Bratt and his agent this offseason wanted 'X million over Y years'. The Devils offered something below it. They essentially settled on the arbitration deal.

Question: why wouldnt Jesper Bratt just raise the price of his 'X million' to 'Z million' over the same 'Y years'?? If the Devils are allowing him to prove himself further, why would the asking price of Bratt's agent not also rise? So now in 2023 the Devils will offer the 'X million over Y years' that Jesper wanted, but now he wants 'Z million over Y years'!

I ask that question because.. in this silly hypothetical world where the Devils let Jesper drag them to arbitration just so he could prove himself further for a bigger deal, why wouldnt Jesper and his agent just increase the price yet again to something the Devils wont pay? Why would Jesper Bratt risk injury just to get the same contract he wanted a year prior? He wont want more for proving more/playing better?

Its illogical and is just copium. Im sorry Devils fans who believe this to be true. But youre in for a rude awakening, unfortunately. Player-selected arbitration is universally bad for the team-player repore, no matter the sport. This is not a Devils issue its a Bratt issue. The sooner some figure this out the quicker theyll go back to being Devils fans not just Bratt fans.

 

[ninetyeight]

The lowest Wood can get in arbitration is $2.975 million, 85% of his qualifying offer and the Devils can not walk away.

My bad I thought his QO was 3m. They can still fit him under the cap though.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Please don't say copium around here we're all like 50 years old

 

[OmNomNom]

we should all have a spot on The View

 

[NJ Devil]

Please don't say copium around here we're all like 50 years old

The word existed before some younger kids got a hold of it, you know

 

[Hisch13r]

I think if it's clear he won't sign here, which all signs kind of point to at this point, we'd be looking at a guy who is already signed by a team that has regressed and is looking to tear it down and use Bratt as a piece to build around.

I think the signs point to us not being willing to give him the 8ish mil it would’ve taken for him to sign.

 

[glenwo2]

@NJ Devil

Saying we have copium is OBNOXIOUS.

You know that, right?

 

[NJ Devil]

I think the signs point to us not being willing to give him the 8ish mil it would’ve taken for him to sign.

So well offer the 9 he will want a year from
Now?

His number wont just stay stagnant, you know