What Does Cody Glass's Next Contract Look Like?
The 25-year-old has enjoyed a fantastic start to his Devils' career, but what does the future hold?
On trade deadline day, the New Jersey Devils’ largest move was acquiring former sixth-overall pick Cody Glass from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick, prospect Chase Stillman, and the rights to unsigned prospect Max Graham. The Devils also got a prospect of their own (Jonathan Gruden) in return.
Since the acquisition, Glass has been fantastic for the Devils. In four games, he has four points — two goals and two primary assists — and an expected goal share (xGF%) of nearly 59%. Of course, he isn’t going to shoot 40% forever, but the playmaking chops have been on full display and he’s been noticeably good in every facet of his game by both the eye test and the under-the-hood numbers.
At the end of this season, though, his contract expires. Thankfully for the Devils’ sake, his expiratory status is as a restricted free agent (RFA), meaning that he can’t go anywhere unless he’s traded or offered an unmatched offer sheet. I do assume, though, that the Devils have the intent of keeping him around as the team’s third-line center. He’s been too good in the black and red not to.
Finding Comparables
Glass’s projection is admittedly a bit tough to predict. On one hand, he has the sixth overall draft pedigree and is genuinely a good player. His defensive game is extremely effective and he is useful as a faceoff specialist. He has good size and strength and uses it well. Glass also has untapped offensive potential, with flashes of occasional high-end skill to go along with underrated zone-to-zone abilities with the puck on his stick. He has a season with 14 goals and 35 points in his repertoire, but hasn’t shown anything outside of that one season — this year’s 19 points are the closest he’s come to that season in his career.
Glass’s current contract, which is worth $2.5 million annually, was signed immediately following that 35-point breakout campaign. It’s possible, if perhaps even likely, that he doesn’t get much of a raise considering his point output hasn’t been even close since.
There are, however, a few names that come to mind when talking defense-first centers signing toward the end of their RFA years who have not reached the point production of their high draft pedigree: Tyson Jost, Michael McLeod, and Barrett Hayton.
Tyson Jost
First on the list is Tyson Jost, who was selected 10th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Jost, who has had a pretty uninspiring career to date, had three of his best point-producing seasons in the first three seasons of his NHL tenure. As a rookie, he scored 12 goals and 22 total points in 65 games, following that up with 26 and 23-point campaigns in the subsequent two seasons.
After that, he mellowed out a bit from a production standpoint, putting up a seven-goal, 17-point season with Colorado as a 23-year-old. He was rewarded with a two-year, $2 million AAV contract for his efforts. In that span, he got traded twice — from Colorado to Minnesota and from Minnesota to Buffalo. He would have been an expiring restricted free agent at the end of that contract, but the Sabres did not tender him a qualifying offer.
Regardless, after his 2022-23 season — one in which he had 25 points — he was given a one-year deal worth $2 million annually, or 2.40% of the 2023-24 salary cap.
Michael McLeod
I really hate comparing anyone to McLeod for off-ice reasons but sticking to hockey, they have had similar careers to this point. Drafted 12th overall in 2016, McLeod never lived up to the offensive expectation that he set in the OHL and bounced between the NHL and AHL for several seasons before making the jump as a full-time fourth-line center.
The point totals were never impressive with McLeod — his career high was 26 in 2022-23 — but he was a stalwart defensive forward and legitimate faceoff specialist. He also had some underrated playdriving abilities that made him a standout and one of the best bottom-six centers in the entire NHL. He excelled in transition, much like Glass, and while he couldn’t shoot to save his life, was a pretty effective passer and forechecker.
After that 2022-23 season, McLeod was handed a one-year extension worth $1.4 million, taking up 1.68% of the cap.
Barrett Hayton
Selected fifth overall in 2018, Barrett Hayton has enjoyed a bit of a better career than Glass from a points perspective but the narratives actually line up pretty well.
Hayton had always been a two-way center, providing the then-Arizona Coyotes with solid defensive play while providing middle-six offense for the most part. He had an offensive explosion in 2022-23, scoring 19 goals and 43 total points in 82 games (sounds pretty similar to Glass’s 14-goal, 35-point campaign two seasons ago, eh?) before crashing back down to earth in 2023-24, putting up 10 points in 33 games in an injury-plagued season.
After that unlucky 2023-24 season, Hayton signed a two-year, $2.65 million AAV contract that ate up 3.01% of the 2024-25 salary cap.
Projecting Glass
While all three players are, in concept, similar to Glass, nothing is perfect to be sure.
In comparing him to Jost, Glass’s offensive ceiling is objectively higher than the former’s, speaking from a production standpoint. Jost never surpassed the 30-point mark, nor does he have the incredibly strong defensive underlying metrics that Glass does.
McLeod never reached the point threshold Glass did, either, but his underlying numbers were always incredibly strong and his profile as a faceoff specialist who could kill penalties at an elite level. McLeod would also provide his teammates with offensive sparks to boot. This probably makes him more valuable, but he never had a contract with the value that Glass currently does, making it a bit trickier to project in that regard.
Hayton, meanwhile, profiles actually quite similarly in the sense that he did have a highly productive season before tempering out. Glass’s defensive game is better than Hayton’s, but the latter’s offensive underlying profile is stronger than the former’s. In practice, this probably makes it a wash. Hayton’s offensive ceiling from a production standpoint surpasses Glass’s, too.
With all that in mind, I would say it’s fair that Glass gets a two-year deal that takes up between 2.75-3% of the salary cap. Considering that the 2025-26 cap is $95.5 million, this turns out to be between $2.63 and $2.87 million annually. My guess is that it ends up on the higher end of that spectrum.
Cody Glass has scored at an elite level at every level of play but the NHL, he certainly has the pedigree, its very very early but I can't help but wonder if he's finally in the system that unlocks him fully.
McLeod's final contract was most likely a reflection of his legal troubles. If he hadn't been in that position (that of being a scumbag), he probably would have been given more term and money.