New Jersey Devils 15 Best Contracts (2005-2022)

This was originally published in my 2020 book Hunting Bargains in a Salary Cap World, and has now been updated with new contracts. I will continue to update each team’s list every summer going forward. The rule is that only active contracts can move up or down. Expired deals cannot pass each other. Next summer it may even be expanded to top 20. The book is still available on Amazon, though some of the stats on active contracts are now out of date. You may yet find it interesting because there were detailed stat graphics that you won't find here. One thing you won't find here are entry level contracts because they all come from the same cookie cutter and require less skill at the negotiating table.
 
My latest book The Hockey Economist’s Betting Prospectus is now available. It's a comprehensive commentary on the last 3 years of hockey betting, broken down by team, by category, by strategy, by season. There is plenty of useful information for bettors of all skill levels. It covers pre-pandemic, peak-pandemic, post-pandemic. What worked, what failed. Lessons learned, market trends, team-by-team analysis. What impact did the pandemic have on hockey betting? The market differences between these 3 seasons are discussed at length, and there's a lot to talk about. To read more, visit the Amazon store.
 
Enjoy! Please note: The formatting on the graphics got scrambled being copied from Excel into Google Blogger. It's among the reasons my blog is looking for a new home.

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The New Jersey Devils won 3 Stanley Cups during the Brodeur-Niedermayer dynasty, but lost their star defenseman shortly after the salary cap was introduced. Martin Brodeur still had some gas in the tank despite being 34 years old when the new CBA was ratified, winning a pair of Vezina trophies (2007 & 2008), helping the team make the playoffs 6 times in 7 years.
 
The Devils hit their post cap apex in 2012 when they acquired Ilya Kovalchuk and advanced to the Stanley Cup final. Their fortunes would take a steep drop into the abyss after Ilya defected back to Russia, Zach Parise departed for Minnesota, and Martin Brodeur turned 40. This started a span of 8 years with just a single playoff appearance. The only thing they won over this span was the draft lottery twice.
 
Lou Lamoriello was replaced by Ray Shero in 2015, but Ray only made the playoffs once in 4 years before getting fired himself. Tom Fitzgerald is now sitting in the captain’s chair, and looks to have the franchise pointing in the right direction.
 

1. Jack Hughes
 

Signed By:	Tom Fitzgerald		Position:	F
Date:	2021-11-30		Age July 1st:	21
Term:	8 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$64M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$8M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	64.0	0	0	0
Per 82 GP	8.0	0	0	0	0.0

"His future is incredibly bright and he will be a pillar for our franchise for years to come."

– David Blitzer

The first two seasons of Jack Hughes’ career fell short of expectations for a first overall draft pick, scoring at a rate of 36 PTS per 82 GP. His year two stat line was worth in the neighborhood of $4.7M, but Devils management had the courage to offer him an early extension of 8 years at $8M believing in his upside. They were right. 

In the final season of his ELC, Hughes scored at a whopping 94-point pace, which prorated over 82 games would have an expected free agent value north of $10M. That’s why my Twitter followers voted this to be the second best contract in the entire NHL before it even started.

  

2. Martin Brodeur
 

Signed By:	Lou Lamoriello		Position:	G
Date:	2006-01-27		Age July 1st:	34
Term:	6 years		Playoff Wins:	24
Total Money:	$31.2M		Playoff SV%:	0.913
Cap Hit:	$5.2M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Avg Adj Cap Hit	GP	W	GAA	SV%
Total	7.9	378	210	2.28	0.915

"Both parties are extremely pleased. He accomplished what he would like to accomplish and I believe we accomplished what we'd like to accomplish. It's as simple as that."

– Lou Lamoriello

Signing a 34-year-old player to a 6-year contract carries enormous risk, but it paid off for Lou Lamoriello. Brodeur accepted a lower salary than contemporaries Nikolai Khabibulin and Marty Turco, but was able to secure an extra 2 years term (which may have been deliberate to lower the average cap hit).
 
Marty could have retired instead of agreeing to this pact and still had a strong case for entry into the Hall of Fame. What happened? He won 2 more Vezina trophies, further cementing his legacy as one of history’s best goaltenders. This could have been for 6 years $80M and still been worthwhile investment (except for the fact that would not fit under the salary cap).
 
His performance did eventually fade towards the end, but if you guaranteed any GM that they could get 2 Vezina trophies on any given contract, they’d all happily write a blank cheque.
 

 

3. Zach Parise
 

Signed By:	Lou Lamoriello		Position:	F
Date:	2007-08-01		Age July 1st:	22
Term:	4 years		Playoff GP:	17
Total Money:	$12.5M		Playoff PTS:	15
Cap Hit:	$3.1M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	18.6	257	247	1026
Per 82 GP	4.6	82	79	327	18.9

"Over the past two seasons, Zach has established himself as one of the outstanding young stars in the National Hockey League"

– Lou Lamoriello

By his second season in the NHL, Zach Parise scored 30 goals and 60 PTS before locking himself into a 4-year term at a low price tag. It was very close to what Mikko Koivu (a center) had procured one month earlier, but significantly less that what Nathan Horton had been paid by Florida for an almost identical stat line.
 
Years two and three would turn out to be the most productive of Zach’s entire career, scoring 187 PTS (including playoffs). Then in year four a torn meniscus cost him a majority of the season. Over the full span, the winger scored 247 PTS in 257 GP (79-point pace), including 15 PTS in 17 playoff GP. Days before his arbitration hearing, Parise and the Devils reached an agreement on a 1-year deal for substantially more money, that would walk him directly to unrestricted free agency after a trip to the Stanley Cup finals.
 
 
4. Brian Gionta
 

Signed By:	Lou Lamoriello		Position:	F
Date:	2005-09-21		Age July 1st:	26
Term:	1 year		Playoff GP:	9
Total Money:	$627K		Playoff PTS:	7
Cap Hit:	$627K		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	1.3	82	89	291
Per 82 GP	1.3	82	89	291	19.8

“He’s an exceptional hockey player.”

– Lou Lamoriello

Of all the non-entry level contracts signed since the induction of the salary cap, Brian Gionta accomplished a rare feat; no player has scored more PTS for less money (entry level notwithstanding). Coming out of the 2005 lockout, Gionta had accumulated 201 games of NHL experience, scoring 83 PTS (including playoffs, 34-point pace) and was a Stanley Cup champion. He had not yet showed his offensive upside, yet still deserved more money than this.
 
The winger very likely did Lou Lamoriello a favor accepting exceptionally team friendly terms, allowing the Devils to be cap compliant while retaining players from their 2003 championship roster. Gionta came back from the lost season on fire, smashing his career best by scoring 89 PTS. No player since has surpassed or matched that total for under $1M on a non-ELC (Andrew Brunnette is next on that list with 83 PTS in 2007).
 
 
5. Jamie Langenbrunner
 

Signed By:	Lou Lamoriello		Position:	F
Date:	2006-07-01		Age July 1st:	30
Term:	5 years		Playoff GP:	25
Total Money:	$14M		Playoff PTS:	16
Cap Hit:	$2.8M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	21.9	378	263	1005
Per 82 GP	4.4	82	57	218	18.4

"He is the prototypical Devils player. He works hard. He is a team player. He is a quality individual."

– Lou Lamoriello

You won’t find many 5+ year contracts given to players over the age of 30 appear on one of my “best contracts” lists (there are 12 others to be precise, out of 450 (at least when my book was published in 2020)). Lou was taking a big risk by handing out this term to an aging veteran because he played a big role in a Stanley Cup victory a few years earlier (leading them in playoff scoring in 2003).
 
Lucky for Lou, Langenbrunner aged well and gave him 4 productive seasons (well 3.5, year two was cut short with injury), including a career high 69 PTS in 2009. Jamie was named captain of the Devils in 2007. His production hit the skids in the final year, but not so bad that they couldn’t flip the vet to Dallas for a 3rd round draft pick.
 
 
6. Andy Greene
 

Signed By:	Lou Lamoriello		Position:	D
Date:	2009-07-01		Age July 1st:	26
Term:	2 years		Playoff GP:	5
Total Money:	$1.5M		Playoff PTS:	2
Cap Hit:	$740K		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	2.1	160	60	177
Per 82 GP	1.0	82	31	91	22.9

“We weren't worried about a qualifying offer. Unrestricted free agency wasn't something we were looking into."

– Andy Greene

Andy Greene had showed very little offensive upside in his first 131 NHL GP, scoring at a 16-point pace over his first 3 seasons. When he needed a new deal at age 26, the expectations were low. So low in fact that Lou declined to give him a qualifying offer with a 10% raise. Greene actually tested the UFA market but had no intention of leaving Jersey, returning on July 1st at a miniscule price.
 
Greene’s spot on the roster wasn’t even guaranteed heading into year one, but he eventually won the job and saw his average ice time shoot up to 23.5 minutes, scoring a career best 37 PTS, a total you might expect from a $6M blueliner. When this expired and he had the option to once again explore free agency, he again chose to return to the Devils, but this time for a substantial pay raise.
 
 
7. Brian Rafalski
 

Signed By:	Lou Lamoriello		Position:	D
Date:	2005-08-04		Age July 1st:	31
Term:	2 years		Playoff GP:	20
Total Money:	$8.4M		Playoff PTS:	17
Cap Hit:	$4.2M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	16.8	164	104	274
Per 82 GP	8.4	82	52	137	25.5

"I can't do what Nieder does. I do what I do. Hopefully, that will benefit me. I've always been able to do things at a very high level. As far as pressure goes, I tend to do better under pressure."

– Brian Rafalski

It’s hard to imagine how a defenseman with 2 Stanley Cups and multiple 40+ point seasons on his recent resume didn’t have more suitors with bigger offers, or if Lou Lamoriello had the inside track due to loyalty. Rafalski signed this shortly after teammate and future Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer departed for Anaheim, presumably because the Devils did not have the cap space to retain both.
 
Most NHL teams were in a serious cap crunch immediately after the cap was imposed, which may have limited Rafalski’s options. The Devils got exactly what they paid for. In 164 GP he posted 104 PTS averaging 25.5 minutes of ice time per game. His next stop was Detroit, where he added another championship to his trophy case.
 
 
8. Jesper Bratt
 

Signed By:	Tom Fitzgerald		Position:	F
Date:	2021-01-10		Age July 1st:	21
Term:	2 years		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$5.6M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$2.8M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	5.6	122	103	298
Per 82 GP	2.8	82	69	200	16.9

"Jesper Bratt's a big part of our team, he's a big part of our future. Things like this, sometimes the business side can take a little bit longer than you expect or want, but at the end of the day we're ecstatic that Jesper is back in the mix here.”

– Tom Fitzgerald

Jesper Bratt scored 32 PTS in 60 GP in the final year of his entry level contract, and the new bridge deal he inked with the Devils was at the appropriate pay grade for that production. He showed immediate improvement in year one, raising his scoring rate from 44 to 53, but the real breakout came in year two when he scored 73 PTS in 76 GP (when he produced at more than double his pay grade).
 
Despite the sensational bargain New Jersey received, it actually might have been better had they been able to sign him long-term (which may not be for a lack of trying). If you’ve got a really talented player and you sign them short-term, the next contract can get considerably more expensive if there is an explosive breakout on the bridge. Call it the P.K Subban rule. According to the media, the Devils did try to secure a long-term commitment when this contract ended, but allegedly Bratt only wanted a 1-year. He bet on himself, and is poised to win the lottery in the near future.
 
 
9. Damon Severson
 

Signed By:	Ray Shero		Position:	D
Date:	2017-09-11		Age July 1st:	22
Term:	6 years		Playoff GP:	4
Total Money:	$25M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$4.2M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	25.7	363	161	630
Per 82 GP	4.3	82	36	142	22.1

"Damon brings an important dimension to our hockey club and he is a young defenseman that we are excited to work with.”

– Ray Shero

Damon Severson went directly to the NHL after graduating Junior hockey, and only played 3 AHL games over the course of his ELC, scoring 31 PTS in the final year. The young defenseman went unsigned all summer until inking this RFA pact in September. He had no arbitration rights and was at Ray Shero’s mercy if the GM decided to play hardball.
 
Fortunately for Damon, he got a fair proposal at a salary very close to what his previous year’s stat line warranted (it was a slightly cheaper clone of the Zaitsev/Gostisbehere deals 3 months earlier). By agreeing to this package, Severson surrendered 2 years of unrestricted free agency, which could have been a big pay day given that he’s been producing like a $6.3M player in years two and three.
 
 
10. Blake Coleman
 

Signed By:	Ray Shero		Position:	F
Date:	2018-07-17		Age July 1st:	26
Term:	3 years		Playoff GP:	45
Total Money:	$5.4M		Playoff PTS:	24
Cap Hit:	$1.8M		Stanley Cups:	2

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	5.5	199	99	535
Per 82 GP	1.8	82	41	220	16.5

"Blake proved himself this season with his work ethic, intensity level and competitiveness. He worked throughout the year to become a strong penalty killer who also had a positive impact in the offensive zone. We look forward to him continuing his development in the next stage of his career."

– Ray Shero

Blake Coleman was a 3^rd round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2011, but had a delayed path to the NHL by staying in college the full four years. He potted 13 goals and 25 PTS in his first full season in 2018, and earned himself an appropriately priced contract for the stat line.
 
Coleman might not have the offensive ceiling as other forwards on this list, but he could give you 20 goals, 200 shots, 200 hits, while playing 17 minutes per night.  The numbers he produced over the first 2 seasons are what you’d expect from a player making $3.8M. That may have been inflated by increased opportunity for ice time on a really bad Devils team, and that he would not get the same prime deployment if traded to a contender…which is exactly what happened, as New Jersey obtained a 1st round pick from Tampa in exchange for the back half of Coleman’s deal. The Lightning parlayed that deal into a Stanley Cup championship.
 
On a personal note, I was formerly a vocal member of the Blake Coleman Fantasy Hockey Booster Club, but sold my stock after the Tampa trade when his ice time got slashed.
 
 
11. Scott Gomez
 

Signed By:	Lou Lamoriello		Position:	F
Date:	2005-08-12		Age July 1st:	25
Term:	1 year		Playoff GP:	9
Total Money:	$2.2M		Playoff PTS:	9
Cap Hit:	$2.2M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	4.7	82	84	244
Per 82 GP	4.7	82	84	244	18.8

"You go up and see Lou in the big chair. You have to be accountable for what you do.”

– Scott Gomez

As has already been established, Scott Gomez wasn’t the only Devil to take a discount in the mighty cap crunch of 2005. Scotty was a 70-point player the previous season and had won multiple championships in a Devils jersey. There clearly was no promise by Lou to pay the discount back to Gomer on the next deal, as the two sides would go to arbitration in July 2006.
 
Gomez featured prominently in the success of Brian Gionta on the infamous EGG line, as both would parlay that dynamic chemistry into big pay raises. The 81 PTS he scored in 2006 would turn out to be a career high mark, but helped him score a massive lottery ticket from the Rangers in the summer of 2007, one of the worst monetary debacles of the salary cap era.
 
 
12. Adam Henrique
 

Signed By:	Lou Lamoriello		Position:	F
Date:	2013-08-26		Age July 1st:	23
Term:	6 years		Playoff GP:	4
Total Money:	$24M		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$4M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	27.6	477	268	828
Per 82 GP	4.6	82	46	142	18.0

“The Devils are a great organization and I want to continue to be part of it. We are going to have a good team this year with some new players signed.”

- Adam Henrique

Adam Henrique scored 50 PTS as a rookie in 2012, scoring 13 playoff PTS while helping the Devils advance to the Stanley Cup final. Following a disappointing sophomore performance in the lockout shortened season, the young pivot agreed to a long-term extension (for a generous sum considering the 16 PTS he’d just produced in 43 GP), selling 2 years of unrestricted free agency.
 
For 6 seasons he consistently produced between 40-50 points and averaged 23 goals per 82 GP playing 18 minutes per night. This was a valuable enough commodity to extract a precious asset from Anaheim, when Henrique was traded for Sami Vatanen. The Mighty Ducks gave him $29M you can read about on Anaheim’s worst contracts list.
 
 
13. Zach Parise
 

Signed By:	Lou Lamoriello		Position:	F
Date:	2011-07-29		Age July 1st:	26
Term:	1 year		Playoff GP:	24
Total Money:	$6M		Playoff PTS:	15
Cap Hit:	$6M		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	7.7	82	69	293
Per 82 GP	7.7	82	69	293	21.5

“That's why he decided to accept a one-year contract. He wants to see where they are heading, what kind of players they have. They have acquired some good young players. He's not going to rush into anything. He'll take his time, analyze the whole thing.''

– JP Parise

The Devils narrowly avoided arbitration with Zach Parise after an injury plagued season, convincing him to return for one year before testing unrestricted free agency. The agreed upon salary was likely less than what the arbitrator could have awarded, but that wasn’t exactly a victory for the franchise, failing to lock up their star player to a long-term extension less than a year after dolling out $100M to Ilya Kovalchuk.
 
This all but assured Parise’s departure, as Zach would team-up with Ryan Suter to rob a bank in Minnesota the following summer. Still, the memories were good while it lasted, as the Devil fans got to enjoy one last trip the Stanley Cup finals before the team’s fortunes withered into darkness.
 
 
14. Johnny Oduya
 

Signed By:	Lou Lamoriello		Position:	D
Date:	2007-07-01		Age July 1st:	25
Term:	2 years		Playoff GP:	12
Total Money:	$1.2M		Playoff PTS:	1
Cap Hit:	$600K		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	1.9	157	55	171
Per 82 GP	0.9	82	29	89	20.0

"He has developed into one of the more talented young defensemen in the National Hockey League."

– Lou Lamoriello

Johnny Oduya played one season in the NHL on his ELC after coming over from Sweden and needed a new contract. He only notched 11 PTS as a rookie and wasn’t about to break the bank, signing for close to the league minimum on a 2-year term. Johnny had not yet developed into one of the more talented young defensemen in the league, but he would be two years later (according to Lou anyway).
 
This investment could not have worked out better for the Devils, as these would become the 2 highest scoring seasons of Oduya’s entire career with 26 and 29 PTS respectively. After this expired, he became an unrestricted agent and chose to stay in New Jersey, but did not last long before being moved to the Atlanta Thrashers Winnipeg Jets in the Kovalchuk trade.
 
 
15. Lee Stempniak
 

Signed By:	Ray Shero		Position:	F
Date:	2015-10-03		Age July 1st:	32
Term:	1 year		Playoff GP:	0
Total Money:	$850K		Playoff PTS:	0
Cap Hit:	$850K		Stanley Cups:	0

 

	Adj Cap Hit	GP	PTS	SOG	ATOI
Total	1.0	82	51	146
Per 82 GP	1.0	82	51	146	17.9

"You didn't need to train as hard as you get older, you need to train a little bit smarter. For me a big emphasis was on quickness and explosiveness and just try and keep up your ability to skate. I think that's a big thing because the game's getting so fast now that if you can skate it's a huge asset."

– Lee Stempniak

By the time he reached his 30^th birthday, Lee Stempniak wasn’t much better than a 30-point player, and got paid accordingly after waiting all summer to get a new contract, accepting a cheap ticket from Ray Shero right before the season started.
 
This became a bonanza for the Devils, as Lee discovered the fountain of youth and had one of the best seasons of his entire career, scoring 51 PTS at a bargain price. It allowed Shero to extract a substantial fee from the Boston Bruins to rent Stempniak’s services for the remainder of the season, netting 2nd and 4th round draft picks from a cheap UFA. It is a triumph in asset management with “found money” (I almost wanted to rank this higher for that reason).