The New Jersey Devils still have a small piece of business to handle. Restricted free agent Dawson Mercer remains unsigned.
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Devils President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald wants to keep Mercer in the organization. However, the money is dwindling as the team handled some internal contracts. Not to mention, some of Mercer’s contemporaries are starting to get new contracts.
Contract projections are all over the place for Dawson Mercer’s next contract.
On the latest episode of the Full Press NHL Podcast, Jim Biringer and Chris Wassel, both of NHLRumors.com, discussed Mercer’s next contract. They both agreed that the most likely outcome would be a bridge deal between Dawson Mercer and the Devils.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Jim Biringer: “Chris is wearing a New Jersey Devils shirt, and we got to talk about Dawson Mercer because he is still unsigned. Yes, he was qualified, but he’s an RFA. Now, he doesn’t have any of the arbitration rights. But you have to wonder what his bridge deal is gonna look like, because it’s gonna be a bridge deal.”
Chris Wassel: “At this point. Now.”
Biringer: “Because they don’t have a lot of money.”
Wassel: “Yeah, based on what the Devils did in the off-season, they kinda have to bridge them.”
Biringer: “Right.”
Wassel: “It all depends on who you talk to as far as contract projections.”
Biringer: “I have my own thoughts on the contract projections.”
Wassel: “It’s fun to go through some of them.”
Wassel: “Oh, he’s definitely a better player.”
Wassel: “Some of the projections out there are interesting. So you know, I went through a few of them. I went through the analytics. I went through AFP Analytics, obviously. PuckPedia.com kind of has its own, too. This is where it gets like if you go more than five years, you’re going into Looney Tunes money.”
Biringer: “Exactly, and they can’t do it. They can’t. But they don’t even have it this year. That’s why they can’t even go five years.”
Wassel: “Right. Here’s the hierarchy for people who are curious about why they can’t do this at all. Okay, a five-year deal will costjust south of $6 million.”
Biringer: “They don’t have $ 6 million.”
Wassel: “Six years, even worse. Remember, they just signed; they just snuck in Tomas Tatar.”
Biringer: “They just signed the defenseman Hatakka, and his cap hit in the National Hockey League is about $775,000.”
Wassel: “And that’s enough to knock that out now. Like you said, the six-year projection is $6.5 million, so that’s out. Four-year projections are interesting, too, because that’s coming in at kind of a budget breaker to a point. They come in around $4.5-$4.6 million. You’d almost have to go three years at that amount, and then you still have to move something.”
Biringer: “Yeah, can’t do it. That’s why I say, if you do a two-to-three-year bridge deal at $1.5 million to $2 million, you’re okay.”
Wassel: “Yeah. I just don’t think that’s gonna get it done right now.”
Biringer: “No, I don’t think it’s going to get it done, either, and maybe they don’t even do a two-three-year bridge deal. Maybe they only do one year, and they try to kick this thing down the road again and then get him to the arbitrator.”
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But I mean again, I think if you’re in the Mercer camp, you’re saying to yourself, you’re saying to the New Jersey Devils, hey, there is a guy across the river at $2.4 million. Look at my stats compared to his stats. What has he done? And that was his qualifying offer, and my qualifying offer was under $1 million.”
Wassel: Right? And he was one for those that don’t know. Oddly enough, he was one of those players that kind of got the dip in the bonus money in his entry-level contract. Was it a huge bonus? No, but it was enough for his average annual salary to like $1.35 million.”
Biringer: “Yeah, so. He got a decent bump, but I still think it’s on the Devils. It’s a two-to-three-year bridge deal. I think it’s about $2-$2.5 million.”
Wassel: “Right, and that’s also going to be if he agrees to $2.5 million, which is a steal. That eliminates, more than likely, any potential overage penalty. Those have to be considered here, too.”
Biringer: “Exactly. You don’t want to exceed the salary cap. Again, this is a good problem—the Devils have right now.”
Again, the most likely outcome is a bridge deal between the Devils and Dawson Mercer. The question will be what type of bridge deal it is and how much money he will get.
