Revisiting 2020 Draft: Was Dawson Mercer enough to call it a win?
In the world of NHL hockey, there is a hard cap floor and a hard cap ceiling. Complying with such financial asset allocation on a 23-man roster starts with properly allocating draft capital, which is an important role for the front office. The other is how you will handle making your draft selections and trades and how it can also include external additions.
When the New Jersey Devils chose Alexander Holtz in the 2020 NHL Draft, he was projected to be a prime-time sniper who needed to just focus on being only a sniper on top of improving his skating. Last season, the Swedish winger saw an improvement in skating and a little bit better in scoring. However, when Lindy Ruff was coaching, he put too much on the sniper's plate. This resulted in constant benchings and, at times, even a healthy scratch.
The Devils did the right thing in getting a Sasquatchy and dynamic young forward in Paul Cotter, who has also done a magnificent job replacing Michael McLeod. A 2025 third-rounder was added to the deal, and the Devils also sent Akira Schmid to finish the deal, so this trade tree from the HMM Draft is branching out from the Alexander Holtz end. Paul Cotter is currently on pace for a 45-point season.
As good as turning Holtz into Cotter was, getting Dawson Mercer at 18th overall is still the jaw-dropper of 2020. The Canadian Army knife out of Newfoundland, Canada, is on pace for a 45-point season but can break off it if he adjusts his game and needs to prove he is worth the contract he signed. Mercer has averaged 38 takeaways a season, a bit ahead of Patrice Bergeron's average when he was with the Boston Bruins. That shows how impactful Mercer can be. He does need to add more offense. Pushing his points to higher than 65 per season would be ideal.
When watching Mercer during his time in the World Juniors with Hockey Canada, he was a player who played a high-energy two-way game. He needs to unleash that offensive firepower under Sheldon Keefe as the coach who could try to get him to pop offensively. Having a coach in Sheldon Keefe and an assistant coach in Jeremy Colliton could help Mercer tinker with his game offensively.
Then, we go back to an old friend in Shakir Mukhamadullin. The native of Ufa, Russia, played in Utica with the Comets and was later dealt in the Timo Meier blockbuster deal to New Jersey.
The New Jersey Devils acquired Timo Meier, Scott Harrington, Timur Ibragimov, Santeri Hatakka, Zachary Emond, and 2024 5th Round Pick from the San Jose Sharks for Andreas Johnsson, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Fabian Zetterlund, Nikita Okhotyuk, 2023 conditional 1st round pick, conditional 2024 2nd round pick and 2024 7th Round Pick- Puckpedia
At this point, Timo Meier has been a key power forward who has made a difference offensively, defensively, and physically on this team. Max Graham was the CHL forward selected in the 5th round of the 2024 NHL Draft and is playing in the WHL conference with the Kelowna Rockets so this trade tree for the New Jersey Devils is still alive. Nikita Okhotyuk is currently in the KHL and is under contract until the 2025-2026 season with the Calgary Flames, so part of the trade tree is ongoing between Calgary and CSKA Moscow. Quentin Musty is an ongoing situation for the Sharks, and a few other pieces in the trade tree are evening out.
In the end, these three pieces have reshaped the Devil's rebuild and expedited it to a playoff-contending team with many ambitions. One of the three players left from the HMM Draft in Dawson Mercer shows that when you hit with house money, and you move two other guys in a few trades, you can certainly multiply your assets with a few bold moves. But one must believe Tom Fitzgerald has played his hand properly at the figurative poker table and made a few nice hits, moving a few high-caliber chips for more house coins to play with near and long term with the asset management of the salary cap in building a winning team.
feed