The New Jersey Devils signed restricted free agent Luke Hughes to a seven-year, $63 million contract on Wednesday that will have an average annual value of $9 million.
Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the team would be signing Hughes to a new deal no matter what (read more on that here).
The 22-year-old Hughes had seven goals and 37 assists last season, leading all defencemen on the team with 44 points.
He played in Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes of the Stanley Cup Playoffs but was out for the rest of the series after injuring his shoulder.
Now, Luke and his brother Jack, also on the Devils, will be playing alongside each other for the next five years until the latter's current eight-year, $64 million deal ends.
New Jersey's regular season starts on October 9th against the Hurricanes.