New Jersey Devils: Timo Meier Scouting Report

The New Jersey Devils sent shockwaves through the hockey world on Feb. 26 when they finally pulled off their long-awaited trade for Timo Meier. We all know Timo Meier can score goals and produce when called upon, but what else does he offer? Where are his strengths and weaknesses? How does he fit the Devils, and how does the team conform to his impending arrival?

This season, Timo Meier scored 30 goals for the third time in his young career, and will only need four more to match his career-best 35 that he had last season. The NHL is the world’s toughest hockey league, so no player scores that many goals by mistake, even if they have the hardest, most accurate shot on the planet.

His package of puck skills, combined with his elite hockey sense, sets Meier apart from his colleagues. Meier is already a hulking winger who is a plus skater, which makes defending his shot and pass and stopping him from getting into the green areas of the offensive zone that much harder. And Meier is aware of this advantage.

In both these goals above, we can observe that both of Meier’s goals are within close proximity to the net. Meier’s skill and awareness are on full display on the second goal. Driving the puck forward, Meier feels the pressure from the back-checker and shields the puck from him. Keeping his head up the whole way, Meier then recognizes the defender steps up, and cuts in between both players to draw a penalty.

Dmitry Kulikov is already too wide to make a play on the puck, so Meier recognizes an opportunity to get back up and regain control of the puck in the circle. Most importantly, he keeps his head up the whole way through the finish. Notice as Meier does not turn to look to Barabanov crashing the crease and instead focuses on placing his hard, accurate shot short side since the goalkeeper is cheating toward the most likely option: the pass.

Meier’s ability to make plays like this will be key to catching teams off guard. Most teams will play conservatively against the Devils and force them to win against numbers with a 1-2-2 forecheck. This means that only one player will put pressure on the puck, and that players like Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier will need to gain the zone with four players sitting back in the neutral zone. Being able to double up Hischier and Meier and Hughes and Bratt means that teams cannot key in on one player, and gives the Devils a better chance of getting one-on-ones on zone entries and puck chases.

Timo Meier’s ability to get to the net should not be understated, either. His physical presence and awareness have allowed him to have the majority of his scoring chances come from in or near the crease. Data collected by Micah Blake McCurdy at hockeyviz.com ($$) shows that with Meier on the ice, an overwhelming number of shots from from the circles and high slot in both 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Only Ondrej Palat and Tomas Tatar have similar even-strength impacts where themselves and their teammates produce that volume of shots from that range.

Finally, Meier is also a player who is willing to throw his weight around and get involved physically. Meier has three career fights, including his most recent takedown of the Boston Bruins’ Brandon Carlo, which you can watch here.

Lastly, Meier has four seasons with 100 or more hits, not including one in which he had 99. Through this, we can conclude that Meier really is the physical presence the Devils have lacked for years in the top six, and he can do absolutely everything asked of him and do it well.