NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - APRIL 01: Will Butcher #8 of the New Jersey Devils waits during warm ups against the New York Rangers at Prudential Center on April 01, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The New Jersey Devils still have two free agents to negotiate new deals with; Will Butcher and Pavel Zacha. One Devils writer believes he’s about to make a ton of money.

Will Butcher is the most important restricted free agent the New Jersey Devils had to sign this offseason. Luckily, the Devils have until August 2nd before his arbitration date approaches. His negotiations could get hairy, being that he has two very different NHL seasons under his belt. One, he was amazing in a limited role. In the other, he struggled when given more responsibility.

Butcher seems a clear candidate for the sophomore slump. Just about all of us believe he’s going to bounce back in a major way. However, it’s not necessarily a guarantee. That makes this seem like Butcher makes perfect sense for what many call a bridge deal. It’s when two sides are separated in negotiations, and decide something shorter term makes more sense.

It felt like Butcher was perfect for a two-year deal. He has three years of RFA eligibility left. The Devils could give him two years on this contract, still have control of him when he’s done, but Butcher could work with a much improved team to increase his value. It felt like a win-win.

Then, Mike Morreale of NHL.com sent this tweet:

In my opinion, I think the Devils might be looking for something in the neighborhood of 6 yrs / $4.5M AAV. Butcher is UFA eligible in 3 yrs, so it'll be interesting to see where his camp is on this one. They may want a $5M+ (AAV). Severson got 6 yrs / $4.16M on 9/11/17 https://t.co/GIVsqWZkI7 — Mike Morreale (@mikemorrealeNHL) July 22, 2019

So… in his opinion the Devils want to give Butcher a six-year deal worth $27 million, and he’s turning them down?

Evolving Wild’s contract predictor thought Butcher was going to get a two-year deal worth $2.38 million. We’ve said before that this isn’t the end all be all for contracts, but they’ve been quite close. Except this one would be off the charts. This is double the price and triple the years.

Buying out UFA years is always more expensive. Butcher might be looking to break the bank based on future performance. We do expect Butcher to be a very good defenseman, it’s just hard to bank on six years of it.

Plus, Morreale brings up Damon Severson who signed a similar contract. However, Severson is a better defenseman than Butcher right now, and he’s only six months older than him. Severson signed his deal when he was barely 23. Is it a huge difference? No, but we don’t think Severson’s deal helps Butcher in these negotiations.

Here’s the point, we would love to sign Butcher for six years. A long-term deal for a fan favorite with major offensive upside is always good, but it’s hard not to say this wouldn’t be an overpay. Either way, if it avoids arbitration, it might be worth it.