Dawson Mercer Is The Real Deal
Many were curious if Dawson Mercer would suffer a sophomore slump. He did the exact opposite of that. There was a time during the season when Mercer was the best player on the team. He had a stretch where he posted 10 goals in eight games near the end of February and the beginning of March. He added five assists in that time, making it 15 points in eight games.
Mercer finished the season with 27 goals and 29 assists. He is being penciled into a very good Devils top six. Will he be the wing next to Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier? It doesn’t really matter. He will be a 30-goal scorer with just a little progression.
After starting the postseason with no points in four games, he finished the playoffs with seven points. That was Mercer all season. He could go through a small slump and bounce back with a vengeance. His first-ever postseason goal came on the penalty kill, pushing the Prudential Center over the edge and giving the Devils a 3-0 lead in Game 5.
We forget just how young some of these players are. Dawson Mercer is 21 years old. He has so much more growing to do as a player. For now, we know this is a great player who has a 55-point floor.