Meier, Devils working toward long-term contract

Timo Meier and the New Jersey Devils are working toward a long-term contract, general manager Tom Fitzgerald said Friday.

Fitzgerald and Meier's agent, Claude Lemieux, have been in constant communication since early last week in laying the ground work for a possible eight-year contract. The 26-year-old forward can become a restricted free agent July 1 and is one year away from unrestricted free agency.

"Timo knows since I spoke to him (on June 15)," Fitzgerald said. "He knows how much we want to continue this relationship, long term, and he's reiterated that to me ... this is where he wants to be. He sees himself as a Devil and has asked his agent to negotiate an eight-year deal with us. It's music to my ears and we'll continue to kind of chip away at it, but the goal is to have Timo Meier in a Devils uniform for the next eight years."

Meier was acquired Feb. 26 from the San Jose Sharks in a nine-player trade that included four draft picks. The Sharks retained 50 percent of Meier's salary.

The Meier news comes after forward Jesper Bratt agreed to an eight-year, $63 million contract ($7.875 million average annual value) on Thursday.

"It was just the start of my long busy summer," Fitzgerald said. "It tells you that New Jersey is a place where people want to be. One, because of the talent we have, but also because New Jersey is a hidden gem. People don't really know it until they get here and understand what we have."

Bratt could have become a restricted free agent July 1. The 24-year-old forward tied his NHL career high with 73 points (32 goals, 41 assists) in 82 regular-season games for the Devils this season and had six points (one goal, five assists) in 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

The Devils (52-22-8), who finished with the most wins and points (112) in their history, were eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in five games in the Eastern Conference Second Round.

"The loss to Carolina is going to sit with us for a pretty long time, but at the same time I think if you take it the right way, then it's going to turn into something positive," Bratt said. "I think if you use that as motivation, in workouts and skates, it might have been a good lesson for us. But that's in the past and we're looking forward."

On June 9, the Devils traded defenseman Damon Severson to the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing him to an eight-year, $50 million contract ($6.25 AAV). New Jersey received a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft for Severson, who could have become an unrestricted free agent July 1. He would not have been eligible to sign a contract longer than seven years if he had become a UFA.

Fitzgerald was asked if he learned anything from watching the Vegas Golden Knights dominate the competition on their way to winning their first Stanley Cup championship Tuesday.

"We have our identity and I'm not going to sway from that because a bigger, heavy team won," he said. "I talk about building around the edges. Ondrej Palat is a heavy player. You watch the growth of (forward prospect) Nolan Foote ... whenever he's ready, he's a bigger, stronger player (6-foot-3, 196 pounds). I do believe in the big, mobile defensemen who can move pucks, take your time and space away. Vegas had a fourth line that was extremely important to their success this year. I know our top players understand that every player on our team is important to success and those guys want to make as much money as they can, but if everybody up top takes all the money, then I'm not sure what our bottom looks like.

"What I'm trying to do is create depth, create an understanding with our top players on how we can be better as an organization. I think probably the biggest reason Vegas won the Stanley Cup was because they probably have the best depth in the League. That's probably our goal ... building that depth. But there's got to be crumbs on the table left so I can do that."

In addition to Meier, New Jersey has six players who can become RFAs on July 1 (forwards Nathan Bastian, Jesper Boqvist, Michael McLeod and Yegor Sharangovich, defenseman Kevin Bahl, goalie Mackenzie Blackwood) and four who can become UFAs (forwards Erik Haula , Tomas Tatar and Miles Wood, defenseman Ryan Graves).

Fitzgerald also discussed the Devils' goalie situation. Blackwood was relegated to third string behind No. 1 goalie Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid during the playoffs.

"We've got some decisions," Fitzgerald said. "There's a [qualifying offer] that needs to be presented to [Blackwood]. We have decisions to make on whether we qualify him, try to negotiate something lower, or whether we move him. With Akira's emergence, especially in the playoffs, it gives us excitement that we've got a kid we believe can someday take over the reins as the No. 1 goalie. He's a young player (23) but I know the confidence he put into our coaching staff. These are good decisions to have."