NEWARK — The New Jersey Devils have signed newly acquired winger Luke Evangelista to a five-year, $36.25 million contract extension carrying a $7.25 million average annual value. The agreement, reached late Tuesday night, will begin with the 2027-28 season and is tacked onto the final year of his current $3 million AAV deal.
According to PuckPedia, the structure is signing bonus heavy, with roughly 75% coming in bonuses ($27.915 million). The yearly breakdown is $9,700,000 in 2027-28, $8,260,000 in 2028-29, $6,120,000 in 2029-30, $6,085,000 in 2030-31 and $6,085,000 in 2031-32. The deal buys out three years of unrestricted free agency beginning in 2029-30 and includes light trade protection over the final three years — a seven-team no-trade list in 2029-30, a five-team list in 2030-31 and a three-team list in 2031-32.
The move came amid a flurry of extensions around the NHL ahead of the deadline for maximum eight-year deals. That wave included Drake Batherson in Ottawa, Noah Ostlund in Buffalo, and Ryan Leonard and Justin Sourdif in Washington. General manager Sunny Mehta opted for five years rather than the full eight. Evangelista’s $7.25 million AAV tops recent comparables such as Fraser Minten (7x$7.2M) and Connor McMichael (6x$6.75M), though Evangelista carries a higher career scoring rate. He brings 253 games of NHL experience, a more established sample than Ostlund’s 68 games, but has yet to play a game for New Jersey after being acquired a few weeks ago.
The Devils are betting the price only rises from here. If Evangelista fits and delivers another 56-point season on his current deal, an extension next summer would have cost more as the salary cap continues to climb. The approach mirrors the proactive bets Mehta — and more specifically Bill Zito — made in Florida with supporting core players such as Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart, locking in manageable numbers before unrestricted free agency. With players like Batherson removing themselves from the future UFA market, New Jersey doubled down on its initial trade investment.