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New Jersey Devils sign Miles Wood to four-year extension

September 22, 2018, 5:45 PM ET [24 Comments]
Todd Cordell
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After months of negotiations, the New Jersey Devils and Miles Wood have finally come to terms on a contract extension.

It is a four-year deal worth $2.75 million per season.

I can confirm as recently as a couple weeks ago the two sides were working on a bridge deal. Those talks didn't go well and dialogue stopped entirely as a result.

Over the last 24 hours or so talks resumed and really heated up. My guess is Ray Shero was willing to be a little more generous financially if Wood was willing to give up more term and that's how things came together.

This negotiation was far from all rainbows and sunshine, obviously, but they managed to settle in time for Wood to see some preseason reps and get himself ready for opening night. That's what is important.

As for the contract itself, I think it's fairly team friendly – as most deals are when it comes to restricted free agents without arbitration rights.

Wood potted 19 goals last season while averaging less than 12:30 per night. He didn't get many opportunities on the power play and none of his six most frequent linemates tallied more than 25 points. To still fill the net as he did – Wood was a top-25 5v5 goal scorer in terms of efficiency – is quite impressive.

Beyond the goals, Wood was very good at using his speed to generate zone entries. His on-ice numbers also drastically improved across the board.

As a newly turned 23-year-old there is still room for continued growth and the Devils are betting on it.

With that said, $2.75 million per won't cause many headaches even if Wood mostly stagnates and contributes 15-20 goals/30 points annually. There is upside on this deal and not much risk unless the wheels really fall off, which I don't see happening.

Wood will remain under team control when his contract expires (2022) as he is not UFA eligible until the following year.

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