The Devils didn’t waste much time turning Luke Evangelista into more than a short-term addition.
Late Tuesday night, Sunny Mehta got Evangelista to agree to a new five-year contract worth $36.25 million, with a $7.25 million average annual value. The extension runs from the 2027-28 season through 2031-32 and will be added onto the final year of Evangelista’s current deal, which carries a $3 million AAV.
The breakdown, according to the Devils’ press release, is $9.7 million in 2027-28, $8.26 million in 2028-29, $6.12 million in 2029-30, and $6.085 million in each of the final two seasons.
PuckPedia reports the contract is heavily weighted toward signing bonuses, with about 75% of the money - $27.915 million - paid that way. The deal also includes modest trade protection late in the term, with a seven-team no-trade list in 2029-30, a five-team list in 2030-31, and a three-team list in 2031-32. It also buys out three years of UFA eligibility.
The timing fits the moment around the league. Yesterday was the final day teams could sign players to a maximum of eight years, and the NHL saw a wave of extensions, including Drake Batherson in Ottawa, Noah Ostlund in Buffalo, and Ryan Leonard and Justin Sourdif in Washington DC. That backdrop made it fair to wonder whether any Devils pending free agents would be next.
At first glance, Evangelista’s deal looks pricey compared with some recent extensions. Fraser Minten landed 7x$7.2 million despite having just one full NHL season under his belt, and Connor McMichael signed for 6x$6.75 million even though Evangelista has posted the stronger career scoring rate.
But the bigger picture changes the way this one reads. A top-six winger under $10 million is starting to look like smart business, especially when the contract is locking in three years of unrestricted free agency beginning in 2029-30.
The NHL is leaning harder into these long-term commitments for young players the club wants in the core, and the math keeps tilting in favor of acting early. The cap keeps rising.
Yesterday’s price isn’t today’s price.
Evangelista also isn’t a blind swing of the bat. He already has 253 games of NHL experience, which makes this a more informed bet than what the Sabres are doing with Ostlund and his 68 games.
There’s still uncertainty, of course, because he hasn’t played a game for the Devils yet. If he meshes well and delivers the kind of production he’s shown before, this contract would have been even more expensive by next summer if he had another 56-point season.
The move also fits the kind of approach that worked for Florida under Bill Zito, with players such as Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, and others. The Panthers got ahead of the market, locked in key supporting pieces on workable deals, and later reaped the rewards when those players became central parts of Stanley Cup teams.
That’s the logic here. The market isn’t going to solve everything, especially when players like Batherson take themselves out of the UFA picture by signing long term in Ottawa.
So Mehta didn’t just make the trade for Evangelista - he doubled down on it. This extension says the Devils believe the player they acquired is worth building around.
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