Travis Zajac will not be testing the free agent waters July 1st as Lou Lamoriello and the New Jersey Devils have signed him to a long-term contract extension.

Zajac's contract is a maximum length eight-year contract worth $46M as per Pierre LeBrun. That equates to an average annual salary of $5.75M. It also includes a no-trade clause.

"During his time in New Jersey, Travis Zajac has become a solid, all-situation player and one of the core leaders of our hockey club," said Lamoriello.

Personally, I like the signing. The Devils couldn't afford to lose a number one centre in free agency this summer for nothing, and they paid a big price to make sure that didn't happen.

If Lamoriello didn't re-sign Zajac and he left in the summer, Lamoriello would be criticized for not signing him long-term. Now that Lamoriello re-signed him, many people are criticizing him for overpaying. Zajac was going to make this much or more regardless, so it's better for the Devils that he's staying put.

As Lamoriello said, Zajac can play in all situations and is invaluable to the team. He's now being paid as a number one centre, so he'll have to perform every night at both ends of the rink. Given his strong two-way play and the fact he'll be playing with Ilya Kovalchuk, he shouldn't have a problem doing so.

This extension ensures that the Devils are secure up the middle. With Zajac, Adam Henrique and Jacob Josefson, the latter two will be RFA's this summer but should be re-signed, up the middle, the Devils are set for a long time.

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