Lamoriello announces Zajac has been signed to long term contract.
— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) January 16, 2013
Devils sign Zajacto eight-year deal worth $46 million ($5.75 million average)
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) January 16, 2013
Some good news to start the season: Per Tom Gulitti the Devils have signed Travis Zajac to an 8 year $46 million deal (as reported by LeBrun in his tweet above). This is the first 8 year contract handed out in the new CBA (with the 8 year max term limit for players under team control), meaning the Devils value Zajac's presence very highly. The contract itself is very reasonable- the $5.75 M AAV/Cap hit means that he's only getting a raise of around $2 million from his current contract.
The breakdown of the contract (via Nick "Those [Expletive Deleted] at TSN"Kypreos)
#Devils Travis Zajac no trade 8yrs 46M deal.No more front loaded money. Case in pt. 1st yr 3.5M. 2 yr 5M, 3rd-6th yr 6.5M. Last two 5.75M.
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) January 16, 2013
It's interesting to note that Zajac makes very little in the first two years of the contract (the first year incidentally being one of two years where Ilya Kovalchuk makes $11 million). Also, he has a NTC on his contract.
Another thing to note is the captaincy issue. Zajac is considered one of the favourites to be named the Devils captain. With him signing the contract extension, he'll be under team control for 9 years (this year +8 more), making him a more favourable choice than Clarkson (who's yet to sign an extension), Elias (old, doesn't want it) or Salvador (because Rich Chere said so).
As for whether or not it's a good contract, keep in mind that EVERYONE who says the contract is bad probably hasn't watched a Devils game. He's going to be playing with Kovalchuk, so he should be able to produce (barring Jamie Langenbrunner shows up to sabotage the team again). He was part of the team's success before and he's a good possession forward (playing on a good possession team), so i'm not nearly as worried about the contract.