New Jersey Devils: 3 Options To Replace Jack Hughes

2. Move up Dawson Mercer

Moving up Dawson Mercer sounds like a much better long-term solution than moving up Michael McLeod. Mercer is already showing incredible growth in just two games in the NHL, and that would work much better on a top line. Mercer has the fourth-best CorsiFor% on the team through two games with north of 59%.

Mercer has been on the ice for two 5v5 goals already. His partnership with Tomas Tatar is growing, so it would be a concern to change his linemates already. That is one reason not to move him in Hughes’ spot. However, the numbers speak for themselves. Mercer has one goal and a primary assist in two games so far. He’s been a major part of the offense when he’s on the ice.

He hasn’t been terrible in the faceoff circle, winning eight of his 18 attempts so far. He’s been getting his team possession as much as the next guy. Hischier and McLeod are both having great starts at faceoffs, but Mercer is doing about as good as Hughes was.

This could be a move to test the waters and see if Mercer is ready. He’s only played 24 total minutes at all strengths. That’s the lowest on the team amongst players who played both games. He’d have to immediately increase his performance time to around 19 minutes per game, which is close to what he’s done in two games. Maybe the Devils instead give Mercer some time on the power play over actually moving him up, but it’s not a terrible option.