By Pierre LeBrun, Shayna Goldman and Corey Masisak
The New Jersey Devils have acquired San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier in a deal involving multiple players and draft picks, the teams announced. Here’s what you need to know:
- The Sharks will keep 50 percent of Meier’s $6 million hit/salary, and his contract extension is not part of the deal. The Devils were comfortable making the trade without him signing an extension as part of it.
- Meier, 26, has 52 points (31 goals, 21 assists) in 57 games this season. He has played his entire career with the Sharks after they drafted him 9th in the 2015 NHL Draft.
- Along with Meier, forward Timur Ibragimov, defensemen Scott Harrington, Santeri Hatakka, goalie Zachary Emond and a fifth-round pick (originally Colorado’s pick) will go to the Devils in the 2024 NHL Draft. In return, San Jose adds New Jersey’s 2023 NHL Draft first-round pick (conditional), defensemen Shakir Mukhamadullin and Nikita Okhotiuk, forwards Andreas Johnsson and Fabian Zetterlund, a 2024 NHL Draft conditional second-round pick, and a seventh-seeker. Round selection in 2024.
- San Jose is 18-30-12 on the season and sits seventh in the Pacific Division.
scouting report
Meier is a high-end offensive creator. The winger excels at driving the game with control onto the ice and into the offensive zone. And he often turns that zone entry into a scoring opportunity for his team. His offensive creation tends toward rush chances, but Meier can still create off-cycle – and on a team with more two-way support, he’d likely expand on that.
He’s one of the most common shooters in the league this year, and what’s impressive is that he’s not being held up with a ridiculously high rate of dangerous passes either. It shows the individual effort that goes into his goal chances.
And while Meier is on track for a career year, there’s a consistency in his game. His influence on the Sharks’ expected goals has been far above average in almost every season. The only year of decline, 2020-21, was clearly a runaway season.
Meier is all the more valuable that he is not a pending unrestricted free agent. – Goldman
What does this mean for the sharks?
It’s the clearest indication yet that first-year general manager Mike Grier will steer this franchise in a new direction, away from one led by the core of players who nearly lost twice in four years from 2016-19 reached the Stanley Cup finals. Trading Brent Burns last summer was a small step, but this is a leap into a new era. Meier has been the team’s best offensive player for the past two years and could theoretically still be part of a veteran core alongside Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture for the next few seasons. — massacre
What could be next for the sharks?
The main focus through the March 3 deadline will be Erik Karlsson, who has four years left on his contract at $11.5 million a season but is also having the best offensive season by a defenseman in three decades. Karlsson has a full lockdown clause but has spoken publicly about wanting to win many times this season. If the Sharks Karlsson can act either next week or in the off-season, that could open up the possibility that Couture or Hertl might consider pursuing a championship elsewhere as well. — massacre
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(Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)