It’s time for Timo Meier to live up to his billing
New Jersey looked as though it won the 2023 NHL trade deadline season when they snagged Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks in a major deal. Although Meier made a massive impact for the Devils following the deadline, he hasn’t parlayed that into a solid 2023-24 campaign.
While injuries haven’t helped Meier’s cause in his first full season with the Devils, we still figured he would have scored more than 18 points and nine goals in 34 contests. It only took 21 games for Meier to find the net nine times in a Devils uniform last year, and he put up another four on the man advantage.
Meier also lived up to his reputation as a strong physical presence after the trade, landing 42 hits on opponents. This season, his aggressive play has faltered, having logged 35 this year to go with just 15 takeaways.
In his last five contests, Meier has also seen the Devils give up plenty of goals when he is on the ice, which has led to a minus-5 rating. He also has just two assists in those games despite putting up 16 shots on goal. The only good news in all of this is that if Meier steps up his game just a notch, the Devils will benefit from it.