The New Jersey Devils went from having a handful of players going to the IIHF World Championships in Switzerland to now having a bunch of players going. On Tuesday, the latest announcement came just a few days after Paul Cotter joined Team USA. The Devils announced that Dawson Mercer would be joining his teammate Connor Brown with Team Canada.
It’s always special to wear your country’s colors, but coming off a huge Olympics, the first time in more than a decade that NHL players were invited, it feels even more special.
That said, most of the players who represented their teams aren’t playing. Team USA looks like a shell of a team, with Justin Faulk acting as captain. Team Canada isn’t the star-studded squad one would expect, either, but it does have its share of stars. Sidney Crosby joined the club on Tuesday, as well. He joins veterans like Ryan O’Reilly, John Tavares, and Mark Scheifele, with superstar forward Macklin Celebrini leading this Canadian squad after his MVP-level season.
The question for Mercer surrounds what he can show during this tournament. Like Cotter, Mercer has something to prove to new general manager Sunny Mehta. Is he a part of the solution here in New Jersey, or is he better used as trade fodder?
That’s the most important thing that Mercer can do in this tournament. If he shows his skill level is on par with the best and brightest superstars in the NHL, then Mehta might see a reason to keep him around.
However, it’s essential that Mercer plays his way into a top-six role. He wants to play with either Crosby or Celebrini in this tournament. The Canadian centers are insane, but they leave something to be desired on the wing. Mercer can take advantage of that.
If he can showcase his ability to play with stars, maybe something will click that hasn’t been working with the Devils over the past few seasons.
Mercer showed so much promise in his first seasons with the Devils. He looked like one of the best players in the 2020 NHL Draft. It was the one bright spot on Tom Fitzgerald’s draft resume. And then, he started to be an issue with the Devils.
His counting stats aren’t terrible. He’s never missed an NHL game, passing Travis Zajac for most consecutive games played in franchise history. He also has three 20-goal seasons under his belt. The issue is that his statistics have stagnated, and he hasn’t found any level of consistency with his offense.
He needs to learn how to find that consistency. Will that happen in a three-week tournament with little NHL talent? No, but it will give him a chance to show he can find some confidence in his game. That can set him on the right path throughout the offseason. Or it could convince an opposing GM to take a chance on him and up their offer in a trade. Either way, it works out for the Devils.
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