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

[Camille the Eel]

LOL I’d bet serious money we didn’t even offer Gaudreau $10 million per let alone $11. If we had he wouldn’t have been begging Columbus to jump in. And Bratt doesn’t have JG numbers so his upside is a bit below what Gaudreau got.

The actual numbers aren’t really the point. It’s that Jack is on a very friendly deal for the guaranteed money and that if Bratt gets to free agency with a trajectory ascending from here he will command substantially more than 8 million a year.

 

[SempreMilan]

Which is even more reason for Bratt to ask for even less term

Theres no getting through to the 'he is buying time for a 6-8 years deal at his dollars' crowd. They clearly havent a clue about how past cases have gone nor do they acknowledge this has been a Bratt issue since his first negotiation where he was a middling player.

He had middling overall production, he wasn't a middling player. I agree he probably gets traded, hopefully for an upgrade and not futures. Would love to reunite Huberdeau and Brunette at the TDL

 

[JimEIV]

He didn't lose anything, which is the point. He's betting on himself and so far he's winning.

His first contact he was making 2.2 for 2 years while others on the team who had produced similarly were making over 7....that 2.2 X 2 was betting on himself.

That was two underpaid years and this is the 3rd underpaid year...that a significant loss in career earnings.

 

[NJDevs26]

His first contact he was making 2.2 for 2 years while others on the team who had produced similarly were making over 7....that 2.2 X 2 was betting on himself.

That was two underpaid years and this is the 3rd underpaid year...that a significant loss in career earnings.

Except he’s winning in the long run. If he took more money those first two years it would have been on a longer term deal where he wouldn’t be getting as much on the back end as he will now. He might not even be getting the $5 million he’d be getting this year. There’s no way he’d get anywhere close to 7-8 million per for max term if he’d signed a longer term deal in 2020

Only the best players in the league and top draft picks get major money in their RFA years

 

[JimEIV]

so just to be clear, they've lowballed Bratt twice now?

Yet have given fair contracts (in the past 2-3 years) to Nico, Hughes, Hamilton, Palat, and Siegenthaler without seemingly any intense negotiations? What does that tell you?



if the Devils offered Gaudreau $11 million/year, Gaudreau would be a Devil right now.

Yes twice....you understand just about every other player you named makes more in a year than Bratt had in his career to date.

That's a bit ridiculous.

 

[Triumph]

His first contact he was making 2.2 for 2 years while others on the team who had produced similarly were making over 7....that 2.2 X 2 was betting on himself.

That was two underpaid years and this is the 3rd underpaid year...that a significant loss in career earnings.

It's not, for several reasons -

A: The Devils were never going to sign Jesper Bratt to an equivalent deal to either Hughes or Hischier, both of whom signed a year early. The Devils would've never offered anything close to Hischier's deal after Year 2 of Bratt for the simple reason that Nico was way better, and they never would've offered close to Hughes because Hughes was way better.

B: Bratt's bet on himself is a hope that it will pay off soon, so far he's almost certainly beating whatever the Devils were offering him in 2021. If they were offering him something like 4.8M/5 years, all Bratt has to do to beat that is get 6.5M AAV for the next two years, which he will almost certainly do.

 

[NJDevs26]

Yes twice....you understand just about every other player you named makes more in a year than Bratt had in his career to date.

That's a bit ridiculous.

Siegenthaler makes more in a year? Dude is making $3.4 per lol. Hamilton and Palat were full UFA’s

 

[SempreMilan]

*prove you can do it again" is a no win for NJ.

Proves can do it again...Pay me $9 million now.

Doesn't prove it again...then what? Don't pay him? Pay him less? And then he only takes a 1 year to see what someone else will pay him.

I know you all desperately want to spin this to be positive but this ain't going to end well

If he proves he can be what he was last year, he's worth $9M. If he takes a step up due to teammates improving and becomes what previous data suggests he could be, he could even approach $10M. And hed be worth it if he is a Gaudreau type player when it's all said and done. If Bratt- Hischier- Holtz shakes out like it could Bratter might approach 100pts. Gonna be fun to see how this plays out.

 

[JimEIV]

Except he’s winning in the long run. If he took more money those first two years it would have been on a longer term deal where he wouldn’t be getting as much on the back end as he will now. He might not even be getting the $5 million he’d be getting this year. There’s no way he’d get anywhere close to 7-8 million per for max term if he’d signed a longer term deal in 2020

Only the best players in the league and top draft picks get major money in their RFA years

How could he be winning in the long run with 7.7 in career earnings at 24 years old? That averages out to 1.5 a year for his first 5 years .. that's horrible.

Siegenthaler makes more in a year? Dude is making $3.4 per lol. Hamilton and Palat were full UFA’s

"Just about every other player"

 

[NJDevs26]

How could he be in the long run with 7.7 in career earnings at 24 years old? That averages out to 1.5 a year for his first 5 years .. that's horrible.


"Just about every player"

You understand there’s a big difference between an actual UFA getting paid and making the case a guy should get UFA money before that point?

How could he be winning in the long run with 7.7 in career earnings at 24 years old? That averages out to 1.5 a year for his first 5 years .. that's horrible.


"Just about every other player"

The first three years are irrelevant, everyone has a cheap ELC

 

[NJDevs26]

And btw Bratt got $2.75 million each of the last two years, not $1.2 and $1.1 or whatever you claimed. He’s again taking less money this year than he could get on a longer term deal because he thinks there’ll be more coming eventually.

 

[JimEIV]

You understand there’s a big difference between an actual UFA getting paid and making the case a guy should get UFA money before that point?

I don't think we need to talk about mega contracts to Bratt but some sort of team parity is more than reasonable.

Both Nico and Bratt have been in the league for the same amount of time...

Both have produced almost identical PPG....

Nico's career earnings are 17+ million
Bratt's career earnings are 7.7 million.

Is that discrepancy at all reasonable?

 

[Jersey Fresh]

I don't think we need to talk about mega contracts to Bratt but some sort of team parity is more than reasonable.

Both Nico and Bratt have been in the league for the same amount of time...

Both have produced almost identical PPG....

Nico's career earnings are 17+ million
Bratt's career earnings are 7.7 million.

Is that discrepancy at all reasonable?

What contract should they have signed Bratt to coming out of his ELC? Very straightforward question that I've posed a few times now.

It's the crux of your premise here, that they've lowballed him twice, so I'm not understanding why you won't just stake a position. What is the contract that would have addressed the issue you're describing? The equivalent to Nico's deal?

 

[JimEIV]

What contract should they have signed Bratt to coming out of his ELC? Very straightforward question that I've posed a few times now.

It's the crux of your premise here, that they've lowballed him twice, so I'm not understanding why you won't just stake a position. What is the contract that would have addressed the issue you're describing? The equivalent to Nico's deal?

I honestly didn't realize that you posted the question of what he should've gotten.

Well consider they just handed out 7.2 to Nico at the time...I think Bratt should be been in the 4 range on a 2 year deal at least and probably over 6 on a long term deal.

 

[ninetyeight]

Well consider they just handed out 7.2 to Nico at the time...I think Bratt should be been in the 4 range on a 2 year deal at least and probably over 6 on a long term deal.

6m for a 0.5ppg guy

 

[Triumph]

I honestly didn't realize that you posted the question of what he should've gotten.

Well consider they just handed out 7.2 to Nico at the time...I think Bratt should be been in the 4 range on a 2 year deal at least and probably over 6 on a long term deal.

Nah, you just don't understand how RFA contracts work. Players have almost no leverage except not playing or waiting for an offer sheet, so players whose contracts end before they are eligible for arbitration basically have to take whatever they are given. This leverage is factored into every RFA contract, even Hischier's and Hughes's - both guys forwent the RFA process and gave up money as a result, it's just that the money that they gave up is on the back end of the contract when they would've been eligible to be UFAs.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

I honestly didn't realize that you posted the question of what he should've gotten.

Well consider they just handed out 7.2 to Nico at the time...I think Bratt should be been in the 4 range on a 2 year deal at least and probably over 6 on a long term deal.

So we're going back and forth here, and calling this some huge slap in the face to Bratt, over $1.25M? Really?

What at all makes you think Bratt would have even entertained a long-term deal at $6M if, as his actions seem to indicate, he wants to hit UFA earlier and/or use it as leverage for a more lucrative deal at a higher AAV? He'll make more money doing what he's doing now than having accepted a deal in that range two years ago.

 

[JimEIV]

6m for a 0.5ppg guy

Is it different than 7.2 for a .6 guy?

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Is it different than 7.2 for a .6 guy?

This right here is my big issue with this whole thing - it's all just a really roundabout way to complain about Hischier. If they gave Bratt the exact same deal at the time you're proposing you'd have been up in arms about how now they overpaid two guys instead of one.

And just to clarify, in no way do I think Hischier is overpaid. Look around the league at some of the deals, it's a completely reasonable deal and it will only look even more in the next few years.

 

[britdevil]

Jim vehemently standing up for a small euro boi winger and his pittance $8mill career earnings.

Hell hath frozen over me thinks.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

Just so we're clear - The Devils offer was less than Columbus' offer for Gaudreau.

 

[JimEIV]

So we're going back and forth here, and calling this some huge slap in the face to Bratt, over $1.25M? Really?

What at all makes you think Bratt would have even entertained a long-term deal at $6M if, as his actions seem to indicate, he wants to hit UFA earlier and/or use it as leverage for a more lucrative deal at a higher AAV? He'll make more money doing what he's doing now than having accepted a deal in that range two years ago.

Additional 1.25 over the last 2 years would put Bratt at a career earnings of 10.2 today as opposed 7.7. I think that is a big deal. Especially against the backdrop of other players getting big deals

 

[Triumph]

This right here is my big issue with this whole thing - it's all just a really roundabout way to complain about Hischier. If they gave Bratt the exact same deal at the time you're proposing you'd have been up in arms about how now they overpaid two guys instead of one.

And just to clarify, in no way do I think Hischier is overpaid. Look around the league at some of the deals, it's a completely reasonable deal and it will only look even more in the next few years.

Correct, and Hischier is signed for 5 more years. The contract has not been great so far but should look better and better every year - Nico's looking like he's hitting his peak, team is getting better around him, he was worth his deal and then some last season.

 

[JimEIV]

Jim vehemently standing up for a small euro boi winger and his pittance $8mill career earnings.

Hell hath frozen over me thinks.

Patrick Elias was a relatively small Euro winger too....so was Sykora....while not a Euro Verbeek was a small winger too...So was Gionta ...

I loved these players... nothing new here

Just produce is all I ask

 

[Guttersniped]

Even if he does exactly what he just did again he won’t get 9M from anyone. Not many players making that much. Price would probably be in the 7-8 million range. The things is the disconnect IMO right now is that he probably wants to get paid like the player he was this past season but the Devils are hesitant to do so at that price as it was only 1 season. If he performs to that level again it should bring them closer together in terms of negotiations.

There is absolutely a positive to this in that it’s 1 more season to get a better idea of exactly what Bratt is. If he has a great year again we should be much more comfortable paying him big bucks and unless it’s another breakout year I doubt his price goes up too much.

I want him locked up and there’s a risk that won’t happen but yes, if his ask was very high it won’t balloon to more next season. If he wanted 8m, then he’s working to get himself that amount rather than shoot past it.

He’s not Gaudreau. He has an intangibles deficit when compared to someone like Tkachuk. People need to stop comparing centers to wingers, their market value and availability is different.

The “great, now he’ll get 9m!” is a made up problem.

We need Fitz and Bratt’s camp to agree on what he should get paid this time and get a commitment from Bratt. The possibility of that is what I’m focused on. That and Fitz managing the asset well if he isn’t going to get him locked up long term (this goes for our UFA defensemen too).

I don’t give a shit about the number, Fitz is plenty conservative there.

I don’t agree with some of the weirdly high estimates but I can only speculate so much, particularly since we’re also guessing Bratt’s production next season as well now. (Not that I don’t think it won’t be great, but there’s still a range it can fall under.)

This contract negotiation is over, it’s disappointing but I’m moving on to what happens next and that’s (presumably) nothing for months and months.