Scouting the Flyers and Capitals Wednesday night
Adam Kimelman: Scouts listed to attend Wednesday’s Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals game: Minnesota Wild (2), Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars, Seattle Kraken and the New Jersey Devils.
Jason Zucker deserves an offer from the Penguins
Josh Yohe: Pittsburgh Penguins pending UFA forward Jason Zucker deserves a contract offer before he hits the open market. Zucker is a perfect fit for their system and he works his ass off.
Jesper Bratt remains in the Long-Term future for the New Jersey Devils
Ryan Novozinsky of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com: New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt understands now that the calendar has flipped to January 2023, he is eligible to sign an extension. Bratt is still committed to signing a long-term extension with the Devils.
“Oh, of course, I am,” Bratt said when asked to reaffirm his commitment to the Devils on Thursday. “We have something really good going on here. I like the group, I like the core we have here.”
Bratt is currently on a one-year, $5.45 million contract that was signed in the summer during what general manager Tom Fitzgerald called challenging. Fitzgerald and the Devils are hoping the next contract extension goes smoother with Bratt. But nothing has ever gone smoothly when it comes to contract negotiations for Bratt.
As far as negotiations go, Jesper Bratt and his agent Joakim Persson speak every day. Fitzgerald started preliminary talks in November with Persson and hopes Bratt will be a Devil for a “long time.”
“There’s a puzzle here,” Fitzgerald told NJ Advance Media in November. “I don’t like when I read, ‘he’s on a show me deal.’ We tried to get a long-term deal, he tried to get a long-term deal, and we settled on this. We’ll go at it again and try to work something out here when we’re allowed to. But he’s a big part of our team. Big part. So, again, I’ve said it in the summer, I hope he’ll be here for a long time.”