The New Jersey Devils have a lot of high-end forwards that they rely on based on their talent and, hopefully, their production. One player who rides the line of “high end” and “depth” is Dawson Mercer. He was the 18th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Since then, he has made his way to the NHL and has become a solid contributor. In his rookie year, he had 17 goals and 25 assists for 42 points which helped him burst onto the scene.
In his second season, he had 27 goals and 29 assists for 56 points. That played a big role in New Jersey's being one of the deepest teams in the league. He came down a bit in 2023-24, as he had 20 goals and 13 assists for 33 points. Reaching 20 goals again was nice, but the drop in assists hurt his total.
Mercer needs to get back to being that 50+ point guy if he wants to make some money in his career. After that, you start to wonder how high he can take his offensive totals. Can he be a 60, 70, or even 80 point guy? The talent is there, but he needs to be more consistent.
The New Jersey Devils have a lot of high expectations for Dawson Mercer
Right now, where things stand, he is the 12th most important person in the organization. A bounce-back year for him would go a long way in this team winning games. His goal-scoring is there but how much can he improve the game of his teammates? We will see this year.
One thing that has been great about Mercer in all three seasons is that he has played in all 82 games every year. That includes the 2021-22 season that had a few COVID stoppages. He made the team out of camp that year and hasn’t missed one since. It’s been a great run for him in that area.
If Mercer is a high-end contributor to this team throughout his career, his ability to play games will come in handy. Hockey is a hard sport and people usually miss time. So far, he has been as reliable as they come. There is something to say about that.
Mercer is currently an RFA so that needs to get figured out before the start of training camp to avoid any missed time.
A guy who is one of the 12 most important people in the organization (top 10 amongst players) should be a priority to get signed. You’d like to think that this will be resolved shortly.
His next contract will either be a bridge or a gamble on a long-term deal. If they go with the latter and overpay him a little bit right now, it might be a great team-friendly contract in a few years.
If Mercer can continue to score tons of goals and start to rack up assists again, he will start to climb this list as the years go along. For now, being the 12th guy on this list is something to be proud of and build on.