Nico Hischier looks set to stay in New Jersey, and it’s going to come with a serious price tag.
According to NHL Insider from the Fourth Period, Dave Pagnotta, the Devils captain’s extension will come in at five years with a $12 million cap hit per season. That’s a major raise from the $7.25 million he’s making on the deal he signed with the late Ray Shero.
For the Devils, keeping Hischier has been the clear offseason priority for new GM Sunny Mehta. The club has already moved Simon Nemec to the Calgary Flames to clear up a crowded defense, added AHL center depth, and drafted Alexander Command and Lavr Gashilov to help address the center situation in the prospect pool. But none of that has matched the importance of locking up Hischier.
There had been chatter that teams were circling him as an early trade candidate, but New Jersey held firm, and that stance now appears to have paid off. The captain looks headed back to the Devils, even if the organization has to pay up to make it happen.
The timing matters, too. The new collective bargaining agreement brings in some changes this year, including limits on contract length that cannot exceed seven years for re-signing your own player and six years for free agents.
Hischier had one last chance to land an eight-year deal, but instead chose five years, which puts him in line with how some other stars have handled their business. Auston Matthews’ last extension was for four years, while Connor McDavid signed for just two extra years.
Hischier still has one year left on his current contract, which means he could be in line to spend the next six seasons with the Devils. Reports had him looking for a salary in the $11-13 million range, and the sides had already agreed on the middle ground for term. Five years at $12 million per season lands right in the center of that discussion.
It also keeps one of the most important players in the organization exactly where the Devils want him. Hischier is too important a part of the team’s fabric to be playing elsewhere, and New Jersey now appears ready to make sure that doesn’t happen.
In Other News...
Devils May Have Just Made Jack Hughes Biggest Problem Harder To Fix
The Devils went into the draft needing more than just another prospect, and Sunny Mehta made sure they at least kept one premium chip in the pocket. New Jersey held onto the 12th overall pick and used it on Swedish forward Alexander Command, a move that kept the front office in position to keep searching for a top-six answer around Jack Hughes rather than spending every major asset in one swing.
Even after the roster shuffle, the larger issue is still staring back at Mehta. New Jersey wants a legitimate scoring wing to ease the burden on Hughes, but the path to landing one keeps getting narrower, and the clubs remaining trade currency is not as clean or simple as it looked before the draft. If the Devils are going to chase a real difference-maker, they may have to decide whether to keep waiting for the right market or finally push harder on a deal that can change the look of the top of the lineup. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Face A Massive Connor Hellebuyck Or Jacob Markstrom Decision
The Devils offseason has a familiar shape to it: Jack Hughes needs more help up front, and the goaltending situation has not settled the way the front office hoped when Jacob Markstrom arrived. New general manager Sunny Mehta inherits both problems at once, and the pressure to upgrade in goal could push New Jersey into a bigger swing than a usual summer shuffle.
One name hovering around that conversation is Connor Hellebuyck, a target whose availability could reshape the market if the Devils decide to press forward. The path there is not simple, though, because moving Markstroms contract may be part of the equation, and it is unclear how much extra value New Jersey would have to attach to make that kind of deal work. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Draft Weekend May Have Revealed A Bigger Plan
The Devils draft weekend already came with a clear headliner in Alexander Command at No. 12, but the rest of the class suggested New Jersey was chasing more than one type of future contributor. General manager Mehta kept coming back to the idea of adding productive players with dynamic qualities, and the later-round picks fit that broader search for skill rather than simply filling out a board.
For a team trying to keep building around a stronger talent base, that approach can matter just as much as the first name off the board. The draft also left enough room to wonder whether the Devils are keeping an eye on bigger roster movement elsewhere, with Winnipeg at least willing to hear trade ideas on its side of the goalie market, even if the full shape of that situation is still unclear. [Read more 🡒]