NHL

Zajac gets long-term deal from Devils

The playoff run that center Travis Zajac had last season for the Devils impressed general manager Lou Lamoriello so much that on the fourth day of training camp he gave Zajac a new contract.

Zajac signed a maximum deal Wednesday, one that is reported to be for eight years and worth $46 million, with an annual salary cap hit of $5.75 million. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, the length of the deal is as long as possible for a player resigning with his original team, whereas if it were another team, the max would have been seven years.

“His play in the playoffs was monumental for us,” Lamoriello said. “As far as him coming back in the lineup, it was quite evident of what he means.”

After missing the majority of the regular season with an Achilles injury, Zajac returned to play every game of the Devils’ run to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Kings in six games. He had seven goals and seven assists in 24 playoff games.

This season, Zajac is finishing out the last year of a four-year, $15.5 million deal signed in 2009. His new deal is in the same mindset as when Lamoriello gave Ilya Kovalchuk a 15-year, $100 million deal as a free agent in 2010.

That deal was as extreme as it got under the old CBA, and now Lamoriello was the first to push the limits of the new one. Whether it’s about managing the annual salary cap or locking up cornerstone players, the Devils surely have a blueprint.

“I think anytime you have a core player and the type of player [Zajac] is, he’s developed himself into all-situation, complete player,” Lamoriello said. “And he’s one of our core leaders and has been since Day 1.”

* Second-year center Adam Henrique, who is coming back from surgery on his left thumb, skated yesterday morning and “has been given the green light to start skating,” Lamoriello said.“He obviously won’t be shooting for a while,” Lamoriello said.

bcyrgalis@nypost.com