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

[goonybird]

Why are you guys even arguing. There was no cap space to sign him to the deal he wanted.

 

[NJDevs26]

Just for further context Nico averaged 52.9 points per 82 in his first three seasons, Bratt averaged 44.3 per 82 with Nico playing 21 more total games. And Nico took the longer term extension after year three giving up money on the back end. So no, there was no chance sixth round Bratt with less production was going to make anywhere near Nico in the last two years on a two year RFA-only deal. Jack isn’t even making his money till this year, after he showed he was worth it and likely then some

Bratt could have bumped up to Nico ish money this year if he’d signed longer term but he clearly wants more on the back end

 

[britdevil]

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

Gionta attended camp without a contract.

I f***ing love Jesper, I think he’s a cerebral brilliant player that is every bit as good as those guys. Probably better than Gio and Sykora.

I just really f***ing hate how things have gone contract wise. It makes the dude look a bit douchey quite frankly.

Why are you guys even arguing. There was no cap space to sign him to the deal he wanted.

Half the posters feel Bratt has been lowballed throughout his career, the other half feel Bratt has over estimated himself.

Simple dumb nerdy argument.

 

[JimEIV]

Gionta attended camp without a contract.

I f***ing love Jesper, I think he’s a cerebral brilliant player that is every bit as good as those guys. Probably better than Gio and Sykora.

I just really f***ing hate how things have gone contract wise. It makes the dude look a bit douchey quite frankly.



Half the posters feel Bratt has been lowballed throughout his career, the other half feel Bratt has over estimated himself.

Simple dumb nerdy argument.

Thing with Gionta though there was no point in time that you could make an argument that he was the best player on the team....Bratt a real argument could be made that he is the best player on the team.

No matter how you slice it Bratt is and has been severely under paid and in comparison to other players on the team, it's even worse.

 

[ninetyeight]

Is it different than 7.2 for a .6 guy?

Yes.

I knew your response before you even posted it. I feel like I'm wasting my time since plenty of people have said the same things, and you refuse to change your mind. But here it goes..

First of all I really love Bratt and I agree that they should have offered him 8x7.5m this offseason. And maybe they did, we don't know. However when it comes to his post ELC contract it's easy to say now that they should have payed him then, when we have seen him become a ppg player. You acting like we should have paid for potential back then goes against everything you've said in the past few years.

Jesper Bratt was an undersized 6th round pick winger who played in the lower swedish league. Hischier was a former 1OA defensively solid two-way center, with excellent junior production in CHL and especially in international games. He also put up 52pts as a rookie and even better pace in his second year. His entire career path has pointed into him becoming future selke vote 70-80pts player. Not to mention Hughes who broke all the USDP records and at the same time his, though defenceman, similar play style brother was already dominating in the nhl. Jesper Bratt kinda came out of nowhere, nothing in his teenage career suggested he would become this great of a player.

 

[MartyOwns]

you can’t compare nico’s contract with bratt’s lol. come on now. 2 completely different circumstances

 

[britdevil]

Thing with Gionta though there was no point in time that you could make an argument that he was the best player on the team....Bratt a real argument could be made that he is the best player on the team.

No matter how you slice it Bratt is and has been severely under paid and in comparison to other players on the team, it's even worse.

Obviously yeah. Gionta had Elias on his team, a guy that should make it to the HHOF.

Ok yeah, we can make that argument. I don’t think it’s true as I feel Hughes is better. A true injury free Hamilton is likely better too.

He probably has been underpaid, you’re not wrong. Guy blew the doors off at 19 after being drafted in the sixth round. For all we know the Devils tried to get him on a good contract that would have paid him more in the short term. That didn’t happen, what happened and what we know is that Bratt willingly held out and signed just in time before the start of the season. What we also know is that he elected for salary arbitration.

Any loss in career earnings so far, is likely on him. Evidence suggests it. TF has shown that he’s more than ok with paying guys their worth.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

Just for further context Nico averaged 52.9 points per 82 in his first three seasons, Bratt averaged 44.3 per 82 with Nico playing 21 more total games. And Nico took the longer term extension after year three giving up money on the back end. So no there was no chance sixth round Bratt with less production was going to make anywhere near Nico in the last two years. Jack isn’t even making his money till this year, after he showed he was worth it and likely then some

Bratt could have bumped up to Nico ish money this year if he’d signed longer term but he clearly wants more on the back end

And just to add to that when Nico signed his deal the expectation was the cap would be around $90 million this upcoming year if COVID had not happend.

 

[goonybird]

If we signed Bratt longterm this summer you have to give up Severson for free. Why do that when you can just sign him long term next year

 

[devilsblood]

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

We know this?

 

[NJDevs26]

If we signed Bratt longterm this summer you have to give up Severson for free. Why do that when you can just sign him long term next year

They’re probably giving up Severson for free as it is, unless they crash out of any playoff contention again and flip him for a pick at the deadline

 

[goonybird]

They’re probably giving up Severson for free as it is, unless they crash out of any playoff contention again and flip him for a pick at the deadline

And then you sign Bratt long term but you get a playoff run out of Severson, or you get something in return and then sign Bratt long term. There's no cap space for a long-term deal this summer. All of this moaning is dumb.

 

[NJDevs26]

And then you sign Bratt long term but you get a playoff run out of Severson, or you get something in return and then sign Bratt long term. There's no cap space for a long-term deal this summer. All of this moaning is dumb.

Why are you convinced we can’t come up with the ‘two million’ dollar difference it would be between a one year deal now and a long term extension? It’s not like they were only offering 5.45 on a long term extension either. This is all about the Bratt camp looking for more value than Fitz is willing to commit, has nothing to do with one or two million of cap space this year that they can find any number of ways.

 

[Hisch13r]

So what's the QO amount that he'll be signing next year to walk to free agency?

Unless he just wants out UFA does nothing for him. We won’t be beat financially because of the 8th year

 

[goonybird]

Why are you convinced we can’t come up with the ‘two million’ dollar difference it would be between a one year deal now and a long term extension? It’s not like they were only offering 5.45 on a long term extension either. This is all about the Bratt camp looking for more value than Fitz is willing to commit, has nothing to do with one or two million of cap space this year that they can find any way.

Because I've looked at the roster and the cap. Zetterlund and Wood will eat up 4M comfortably.

 

[Guttersniped]

You know what's funny...this organization has gotten almost nothing from an individual player remotely enticing since Taylor Hall.

Bratt provides easily the best individual performance since Hall and some people here are saying "do it again" - "he's not a center" - "meh he wasn't a first overall ". - "he only had 30 points before". - "maybe next year we can pay him a little extra if he plays like a superstar"

This is honestly insanity. The depths a fan will go to engage their coping mechanisms knows no bounds I suppose.

I don’t quite understand the coping/“copium” thing.

No one here negotiated the deal or are privy to any of the details. In the end one here knows why he didn’t get signed long term. People can keep speculating on it, but considering we never learned the figures of his last negotiations it might be pointless.

The important question is will Fitz sign him long term now. I still think there chance because I assume there’s an amount that will get Bratt to sign long term, if Fitz goes there. Maybe there isn’t. It’s a guessing game.

You can’t be that flabbergasted by Fitz not throwing endless money at Bratt. GMs/teams tend to be a little unenthusiastic about wingers like Bratt.

Also almost any NHL team would take Nico over Bratt on the same contract every time. Very few teams are in more need of wingers than centers. Center is the most important position in hockey and wingers are the most available.

Do some people on this board undervalue Bratt? Sure. But that’s a different issue.

I don’t know, some people keep demanding a more bleakly negative, emotionally charged, complaining response from people. That’s not how everyone goes about feeling about their sports teams. It’s just not enjoyable and, no, it’s not more “rational” or “realistic”.

 

[NJDevs26]

Because I've looked at the roster and the cap

So you think Fitz was lying when he said he made a ‘substantial’ offer?

I mean even after Wood gets his qualifying offer award, just start the season with Bernier on IR then figure it out as you go, guys get hurt or traded in-season all the time, this isn’t as impossible as you’re making it out to be.

 

[ninetyeight]

Because I've looked at the roster and the cap

I agree with you and have said it myself before, that it's the silver lining in this to be able to fit everyone under the cap. However they could have got the cap space by just putting Bernier to LTIR or dumping one of Johnsson/Tatar (probably cost a pick to do so).

 

[goonybird]

So you think Fitz was lying when he said he made a ‘substantial’ offer?

I mean even after Wood gets his qualifying offer just start the season with Bernier on IR then figure it out as you go, guys get hurt or traded in-season, this isn’t as impossible as you’re making it out to be.

I agree with you and have said it myself before, that it's the silver lining in this to be able to fit everyone under the cap. However they could have got the cap space by just putting Bernier to LTIR or dumping one of Johnsson/Tatar (probably cost a pick to do so).

Why bank on injuries or trading assets when you can keep everyone and just sign him next season? lmao

 

[NJDevs26]

Why bank on injuries or trading assets when you can keep everyone and just sign him next season? lmao

And what makes you think he automatically signs next offseason now that it’s one year away from FA and we’ve already gone through two negotiations without a long term deal? This dude held out into the season two years ago when he had bupkus for leverage.

 

[glenwo2]

So you think Fitz was lying when he said he made a ‘substantial’ offer?

I mean even after Wood gets his qualifying offer award, just start the season with Bernier on IR then figure it out as you go, guys get hurt or traded in-season all the time, this isn’t as impossible as you’re making it out to be.

What does Fitz consider "substantial", though?

 

[goonybird]

And what makes you think he automatically signs next offseason now that it’s one year away from FA and we’ve already gone through two negotiations without a long term deal? This dude held out into the season two years ago when he had bupkus for leverage.

Then you deal with it then! what makes you think he won't sign!? What if an asteroid hits earth and wipes us all out!

 

[NJDevs26]

What does Fitz consider "substantial", though?

Has to be something more than 5.45. It’s a little silly to say ‘the money wasn’t there’ for a long term deal if he’s offering 6.5-6.75 and Bratt wants 7.5-8, thats not a cap divide, that’s a value divide. Especially when the initial offer was made before signing Palat, trading for Marino and Vanacek, etc

 

[Stephen Gionta]

We know this?

Yes, we know this.

Devils offer was between 9-9.5

Columbus offer was 9.75

 

[JimEIV]

you can’t compare nico’s contract with bratt’s lol. come on now. 2 completely different circumstances

Don't then...Compare him to wingers from his draft class

2016 Draft - Clayton Keller signed a 8 year / $57,200,000 * Keller has never score more than 65 points in a season. 7.15 AAV
2016 Draft - Alexander Debrincat signed a 3 year / $19,200,000 *78 Point High - $6,400,000 AAV 3 years Ago!

Those AAV's are almost as much as Bratt's Total career earnings/