Just two days after he filed for arbitration, Devils' leading scorer Kyle Palmieri agreed to a five-year deal worth $23.25 million on Thursday.
The new deal carries an average annual value (salary cap figure) of $4.65 million.
Palmieri, 25, notched career highs with 30 goals and 27 assists in his first season with the Devils after being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks.
The season-by-season breakdown of the right wing's deal is as follows: 2016-17: $4,500,000; 2017-18: $4,500,000; 2018-19: $5,000,000; 2019-20: $5,000,000; and 2020-21: $4,250,000.
The deal appears to be a smart one for both sides _ and general manager Ray Shero had said last week the sides were close on annual salary but needed to come to an agreement on length of contract that makes sense for both team and player.
In a five-year deal, the Devils buy back three years of unrestricted free agency and also lock up Palmieri through the bulk of the prime of his career _ ages 25-30. Yet, Palmieri, at age 30, presuming he maintains a certain level of play, will also be in line for one more rich contract, potentially as an unrestricted free agent.
With Palmieri's re-signing, the Devils now seemingly have conducted the bulk of their offseason work, including the acquisition of top-line left wing Taylor Hall, the signing of unrestricted free agent defenseman Ben Lovejoy and the previous re-signings of restricted free agents Sergey Kalinin (one year, $800,000), Jacob Josefson (one-year, $1.1 million), Beau Bennett (one year, $725,000), defenseman Jon Merrill, 24 (two years, $2.275 million) and forward Devante Smith-Pelly, 24 (two years, $2.6 million).
Per General Fanager, the Devils now have approximately $13.2 million salary cap space with 15 forwards, five defensemen and two goalies under contract.
That includes two forwards who won't play, Ryane Clowe ($4.85 million) and Marc Savard ($4.1 million).
