The New Jersey Devils have a great young player in Dawson Mercer, who will now play for Team Canada.
The New Jersey Devils have a lot of great young prospects in the pipeline right now. As a result, they are well represented at the 2021 World Juniors Tournament. It is going to be a great event that will show the hockey world all of the new talents that could impact the National Hockey League soon. One prospect that New Jersey Devils fans should be excited about right now is Dawson Mercer, who has just been named to Team Canada.
Mercer was one of New Jersey’s first-round picks in the 2020 NHL Draft. He was selected by the Devils with the pick that the Arizona Coyotes gave them for Taylor Hall. He currently plays for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QMJHL. Their season over there has already begun and he has four goals and three assists for seven points in five games which is a really good start.
Now, he is going to join Team Canada and try to win a Gold Medal with them for the second straight year. He played with them last year but didn’t have the impact role that he will have this year. He is going in as a first-round NHL pick that has the ability to help them on that journey to a repeat gold.
This year’s edition of Team Canada is stacked. They are always good of course but this year is different. Out of 22 skaters, 20 of them were first-round NHL picks. That is a lot of talent on one team which shows how good they are. We have heard many scouts say that the 2020 draft was as good as the legendary 2003 draft and this Team Canada squad would like to prove that even further.
Of course, Team Canada is a team loaded with offensive talent that will be in the National Hockey League sooner rather than later. Mercer will be relied on for a bit of that offense but his two-way game is something that will come in handy for them as well.
They’re not going to have their superstar, Alexis Lafreniere, and they are still overwhelming favorites to win it all. Mercer is going to have a chance to play with some really good players which should help with his development. By the time he gets to New Jersey Devils training camp in 2021-22, he is going to be confident and ready to go. Playing in this tournament is awesome for him and a great opportunity to experience more winning.