With the #NHL deadline coming up this Friday, the New Jersey Devils who are currently 2nd in the Metropolitan Division, and 3rd in the Eastern conference, made a big move to acquire Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks.
This is a huge move and confirms NJ is going all in to be able to compete with the Boston Bruins and potentially overtake the Carolina Hurricanes for the #1 seed in the Metro. There was a lot of pieces included in this deal, but NJ didn't have to give up any of their core to go get Meier.
Here are the full details of the trade: In addition to Meier, Timur Ibragimov, defensemen Scott Harrington, Santeri Hatakka, goaltenderZachary Emond and a fifth-round pick (originally Colorado's selection) in the 2024 NHL Draft via trade with the San Jose Sharks in exchange for New Jersey's first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft (conditional), defensemen Shakir Mukhamadullin and Nikita Okhotiuk, forwards Andreas Johnsson and Fabian Zetterlund, a conditional second-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft and a seventh-round selection in 2024. San Jose will retain 50% of Meier's 2022-23 salary as part of the trade.
NJ basically had to give up a bottom 6 forward, a top 4 defensive prospect (they have like 100 of them), and some picks (they have a billion). San Jose covering 50% of the salary helps as well. With any big name NHL trade, you hope to either win a cup that year, or the player resigns with a long term deal. Meier immediately improves an already great Devils team, he has has totaled 316 career points (154g-162a) in 451 games played with San Jose. His 316 career points rank 10th all-time in San Jose's franchise history, while his goal total ranks ninth.
He has also had a productive season so far, average slightly below a point per game with the Sharks (52 pts in 57 games), and a healthy balance of goals to assists 31 goals - 21 assists. He may have a chance to surpass his career-high 35 goals and 41 assists for 76 points from last season. Meier has played in 35 career Stanley Cup Playoff games and has totaled 20 points (7g-13a). The last time Meier appeared in the post-season was in 2018-19, when he helped San Jose advance to the Western Conference Final and logged 15 points (5g-10a) in 20 games played. Not only does he have playoff experience, he has also performed during them.