In a weekend where the Devils honored the 20th anniversary of their 2003 Stanley Cup Championship team and dominated the Philadelphia Flyers in a 7-0 rout, each of those events took a backseat to the acquisition of Forward Timo Meier. On Sunday, the Devils beat out offers from almost every team in the NHL and landed the best player available at the trade deadline, Timo Meier. General Manager Tom Fitzgerald said that both the team and the fans "deserved" the addition of a player of Meier's caliber, and he delivered.
The Devils acquired Meier (with Sharks paying 50% of his salary) and Defenseman Scott Harrington (along with several AHL/prospect players) in exchange for two conditional draft picks, defensemen Shakir Mukhamadullin and Nikita Okhotyuk, as well as forwards Andreas Johnsson and Fabian Zetterlund. A steep price to be sure, but to add a player of Meier's caliber without giving up Dawson Mercer, Alexander Holtz, Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, Akira Schmid, Nico Daws, or Seamus Casey is certainly a victory for Fitzgerald and the Devils as well as a credit to the depth of a prospect pool he has assembled.
Fitzgerald indicated Sunday night that he was assembling all of his staff on Monday as well as his coaches to discuss what additional pieces are needed before the deadline next Friday. The Devils will practice Monday then fly to Denver Tuesday where Meier will meet up with the team before they play the Avalanche Wednesday night. Meier is recovering from an upper-body injury and indicated that he is day to day. Meier is currently a restricted free agent (RFA) and the Devils retain his right for next year at a steep cost ($10 million). Both sides would clearly like to find a way to extend his stay in New Jersey long term and said they would work on that in the coming months. Fitzgerald did not seem overly concerned with not being able to sign Meier. He called New Jersey a "hidden gem" and expressed belief that once Meier settles in that he and his staff will be able to sell Meier on staying in New Jersey long term.
At the end of last season, Fitzgerald described that his team needed to add sandpaper to its game, become tougher to play against and more difficult to prepare for, Meier is the piece that completes the rebuild. Meier described himself as a "typical power forward, I like to shoot the puck and try to get to the net and those areas where I can be a threat to score. I play a 200-foot game and add my physicality." He is exactly the piece the Devils were missing from both the NHL team and their prospect pool. Meier brings a scorer's pedigree in a power forward body with a nasty streak.
Meier currently sits 14th in the league in goals (31) and has nearly 20 more hits (112) than the leading Devils player (McLeod, 94). He will also make those around him better, he provides either Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier with a bona fide finisher and he has twice as many power play goals as anyone on the Devils (13) Meier said he spoke earlier in the day with Coach Lindy Ruff but is not certain yet where he will be placed in the lineup and he will wear number 96.
There are currently 12 Swiss-born players in the NHL and with the addition of Meier the Devils now have four. (Meier, Hischier, Schmid, & Siegenthaler). The Devils certainly hope that Meier's familiarity with these new teammates will help him quickly acclimate to the new system and start quickly. Meier indicated that he has "followed his Swiss buddies and (he) knows they are playing well." He also brings needed playoff experience to a young team and looks forward to the playoffs, "I'm a competitive guy. I want to win...I hate losing." He also sees the potential for great success with the Devils, "For this team the sky is the limit...this is the best time of year coming up." Devils fans will certainly agree as for the first time in a decade the team is living in the present not hoping for a better future.
A Perfect Night
Saturday night the Devils hosted their division rivals, the Flyers as well as their 2003 Stanley Cup Championship team who were honored in a moving pre-game ceremony before a raucous, sold-out crowd. The Devils were coming off a dramatic come from behind, overtime victory and looking to take advantage of a depleted Flyers team. After a first period where the Devils controlled much of the play but were unable to break through, they took control in the second period and never looked back scoring seven times over the next 40 minutes. The Devils were led by their Swiss players with a three point night for Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, including his 3rd goal of the season (a career high), a two-point night for Hischier, and a shutout for Goalie Akira Schmid (the first of his career). In all the Devils had seven different goal scorers. Dawson Mercer continued his hot streak increasing his career high goal scoring streak to six games. Jack Hughes has another multi-point effort with a breakaway goal followed by a spinning no-look pass to set up Jesper Bratt.
unrealllll...the way Hughes passed this so Bratt could tap it in🔥 pic.twitter.com/JBqd6G7i7J
— Devils on MSG (@DevilsMSGN) February 26, 2023
Game Notes
- Mercer's six-game goal streak ties a team record, along with 12 other players, most recently Adam Henrique.
- Mercer also set a record of most consecutive games played to begin a career with 141. Scott Gomez, the previous record holder was on hand for the pre-game celebration.
- Hughes's 26th multi-point game puts him one behind the all-time team record of 27 held by Taylor Hall
- Dougie Hamilton's 17th goal puts him one away from tying the team record for goals by a defenseman (Scott Stevens) and one off of his career high for a season.
The Devils begin a three-game road trip in Colorado on Wednesday, puck drop is 9:00 p.m.
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