As the Devils’ top priority, what could Luke Hughes’ contract look like?
The New Jersey Devils are looking towards the off-season, and locking up one of their top players sounds like the first order of business.
According to a team source, the Devils’ top priority is (unsurprisingly) getting defenseman Luke Hughes locked up in short order. The team is open to either a long-term or a bridge contract, according to a source, at this point.
In regards to what a long-term deal could look like, the first one that jumped out to me as a comparable was that of Brock Faber with the Minnesota Wild. Faber, 22, signed an eight-year contract with a $8.5 million AAV that kicked in this past season. The deal was signed in July of last summer, so there isn’t a ton of difference now in terms of what we know about the salary cap going up; aside from the first season (2024-25), the Hughes potential deal will be dealing with the same salary cap implications as that of Faber.
Speaking with one Western Conference executive, he felt that Hughes has yet to reach Faber’s level. According to this one executive, while Hughes is going to get paid something “pretty good,” he hasn’t yet warranted the Faber contract. It is subjective, but if we were to go by offensive numbers only, Hughes’ offensive output (93 points in 155 NHL games) has decently outperformed that of Faber (76 points in 163 games). Whether or not Hughes would get to the exact dollar value of Faber is up for debate, but I can’t imagine he will be that far off if the Devils elect to go longer term.
While securing Hughes on a long-term contract could be the best option in the long run, a short-term, bridge deal may be the easier route for Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald. Speaking with an Eastern Conference executive, he would bridge the 21-year-old, 2021 fourth overall pick and then lock him up long term down the road. In terms of what a bridge deal could look like, this executive pointed to that of Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bo Byram; ironically, Byram is also an RFA this summer.
Byram, who turns 24 today, signed a two-year, $7.7 million contract two summers ago while still a member of the Colorado Avalanche. At the time of the contract’s signing, Byram averaged .47 points per game – a significantly lower rate than Hughes’ .6 points per game. The salary cap was still in a stagnant state as the league crawled out of the Covid-19 era; with the cap now $10 million more than it was two years ago (and set to skyrocket in the years to come), Byram’s $3.85 million AAV will be nothing more than a starting point in Hughes’ negotiation should a bridge deal be the ultimate course of action.
With the Dallas Stars inking Thomas Harley to a two-year contract with an AAV of $4 million ahead of last season, I’d imagine a two or three-year bridge deal for Hughes would be pushing up against $5 million per season.
Connor Zary’s contract talks are going slow
Calgary Flames GM Craig Conroy has a lot of housekeeping to take care of this summer, and hammering out a new contract for pending RFA forward Connor Zary is one of the focal points. According to sources on both the team and player sides, there have been few talks lately.
As I reported a few weeks back, a team source told Daily Faceoff that a bridge contract was the most likely route. The reasoning behind it was Zary’s injury history and the team’s uncertainty about whether the player would ultimately be a center or winger. Checking in with someone close to the player’s camp yesterday, it was corroborated that the team’s desire is a three-year “prove it” deal for the 2020 first-round draft pick.
While numbers have not been specifically discussed, sources on both sides agreed when I brought up the Tyson Foerster contract, which was signed by the Philadelphia Flyers, as a good comparable. Foerster, 23, locked in a two-year contract with a $3.75 million AAV with the Flyers last week. Drafted in the same year as Zary and producing at a similar rate, the comparison was described to me as a “starting point.”
I get the sense that the player’s camp values Zary at a higher number than $3.75 million, which will only increase if they commit an additional year, similar to Foerster. I’ve also heard that Zary’s declined usage after the additions of Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost affected his offensive output, which I imagine may play a factor in negotiations when they inevitably accelerate.
Beyond the Flames still have Frost and Kevin Bahl to sort out as pending RFAs, along with the looming decision of blueliner Rasmus Andersson, who Frank Seravalli reported on earlier this week.
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