Confirmed with Link: Devils acquire Meier (50% retained) and four others from the Sharks for 2023 1st, conditional 2024 1st, Mukhamadullin, Okhotiuk, Zetterlund & Johnsson

[NJDevs26]

I don't want Bratt gone. But I'm not sure he's an 8 million dollar player longterm. Management will have to make that decision.

If that was a thing ever, it isn't now after Fitz both pushed chips to the middle of the table with the trade and made the comment he did about Bratt being the next one paid to Amanda.

 

[NJDevs26]

I wonder what the odds would be if the Bruins just didn't exist, or got transported to Moron Mountain of Space Jam? Our division itself is tough enough but Fitz isn't backing down to Carolina or the Rangers.

 

[JimEIV]

Tkachuk woulda been great but it likely woulda gutted the prospect pool

That's true and given the choice between Meier and what we gave up for him and Tkachuk and potentially losing Mercer, Nemec and more....

That's a no brainier.

 

[NJDevs26]

I mean given how much the Flames wanted to win now, getting Thachuk would have been more likely a Bratt-Severson type of trade

 

[Hisch13r]

I mean given how much the Flames wanted to win now, getting Thachuk would have been more likely a Bratt-Severson type of trade

Even that’s not close. Huberdeau put up 115 pts. Even though Bratt was actually a better player Huberdeau would he looked at as much more valuable and Weegar is much more valuable than Sevo. We had no chance for multiple reasons

 

[newjerseydamo]

You don't let Bratt go when our top 6 is looking this strong. Lose Bratt, and that's a massive dent in our team, especially when the path to the Cup goes through such strong teams.

 

[Hisch13r]

You don't let Bratt go when our top 6 is looking this strong. Lose Bratt, and that's a massive dent in our team, especially when the path to the Cup goes through such strong teams.

You’re back to square one and now down all the pieces you just moved. You likely wouldn’t be getting back the return you just gave up either. You do what you must to sign both.

 

[Capt Nico Poo]

Isnt Tatar's contract ending soon? The way i see it is that Timo is at worst a great Tatar upgrade.

 

[forceten]

This makes signing Bratt even MORE important. We have an elite top six core.
You don’t want that walking

 

[Devils731]

This really ended up being an NHL23 trade (ignoring that you can only have 5 pieces in the game) where you get the other team to give you something really valuable and you keep adding ok pieces until they say yes.

You can usually find more ok pieces in the future but finding top pieces is much harder.

 

[BurntToast]

Mind blown. What do you mean, the Devils don’t have multiple first round picks?! Oh, wait they are actually good this year…

If he doesn’t sign, you know the Blues will fork over 2 firsts.

 

[Hisch13r]

Isnt Tatar's contract ending soon? The way i see it is that Timo is at worst a great Tatar upgrade.

Tatar’s expiring after this and you 100% re-sign him. Not even a question. Motherf***er is LEADING THE LEAGUE in GF%

This makes signing Bratt even MORE important. We have an elite top six core.
You don’t want that walking

I think it’s just as important because it already couldn’t have been more important

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Isnt Tatar's contract ending soon? The way i see it is that Timo is at worst a great Tatar upgrade.

Wouldn't mind him back next year, actually I'd prefer him and Graves back if they could after figuring out Bratt + Timo

 

[Capt Nico Poo]

Tatar’s expiring after this and you 100% re-sign him. Not even a question. Motherf***er is LEADING THE LEAGUE in GF%

Sure you resign him but probs a bit cheaper than what 5m he is making now?

 

[Tundra]

Tatar’s expiring after this and you 100% re-sign him. Not even a question. Motherf***er is LEADING THE LEAGUE in GF%



I think it’s just as important because it already couldn’t have been more important

Gerard Gallant benched him in Vegas. He's back for revenge.

 

[Hisch13r]

Wouldn't mind him back next year, actually I'd prefer him and Graves back if they could after figuring out Bratt + Timo

Bringing him back was already a no brainer. It’s made even more obvious with Zetterlund gone. Tatar’s irreplaceable

 

[DerekDevils30]

Tatar’s expiring after this and you 100% re-sign him. Not even a question. Motherf***er is LEADING THE LEAGUE in GF%



I think it’s just as important because it already couldn’t have been more important

He’s a vet and i think he knows he‘s on a team that can give him a chance to get a cup in the coming years. I think he’s willing to work with Fitz to get something done. I sure hope so because he’s been a boon. I hope he shuts some people up these playoffs.

 

[guitarguyvic]

This is really exciting. Hope Timo is able to play Wednesday.

 

[Hisch13r]

He’s a vet and i think he knows he‘s on a team that can give him a chance to get a cup in the coming years. I think he’s willing to work with Fitz to get something done. I sure hope so because he’s been a boon. I hope he shuts some people up these playoffs.

I’d want another 2 year deal and then you have him up when Nemec is a full time rookie in 24-25 (not 23-24 pls). The young Slovaks idolize him

 

[Bcap88]

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Sure you resign him but probs a bit cheaper than what 5m he is making now?

I’d hope for 2 years 3 to 3.5 per

 

[Hisch13r]

Sure you resign him but probs a bit cheaper than what 5m he is making now?

He’s at 4.5 now. I’d like a bit cheaper for sure but I’d take the same number if need be. He’s FAR outpacing 4.5. I’d probably be moving on from Yegor. The one hole to me in the top 9 (assuming Holtz gets a real chance next year and sticks) would be 3C

 

[Saugus]

Wyshinski loves the trade for us at ESPN:

NHL trade grades: Sabres smartly buy low on Greenway

Grading all the big NHL deals, including the trade that brought the 26-year-old winger to Buffalo.

www.espn.com

New Jersey Devils: A​

Now that's a trade. It's entirely possible more players moved in this single transaction than will move on the entirety of March 3.

It all boils down to one thing: The Devils acquired Timo Meier. And as one NHL executive texted me: "Huge get for Devils. HUGE."

That about sums it up. Both in dimensions and magnitude, New Jersey's acquisition of Meier is a game-changer. He's a 26-year-old winger who has scored 66 goals in his last 134 NHL games with the Sharks, with 128 points in those games.

In Meier, the Devils have an elite play-driving winger that creates scoring chances and finishes them with frequency. He'll immediately join the flank of either Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier (his Swiss countryman), adding an established offensive force to a team that was already fifth in the NHL in goals per game (3.51). The Devils play a specific offensive style: Speedy, creating off the rush. Meier's metrics show him to be a player quite comfortable converting and creating chances off the rush. He's a perfect fit in that regard.

"Think it's a fantastic move. He can play against the big defensemen and the fast little guys," one current NHL player said. "He's a shooter, which will help their playmakers Hughes and Jesper Bratt."

Where he'll theoretically help the Devils in a big way is on the power play: Meier has the 11th most power-play goals in the NHL over the last two seasons (25). The Devils excel in most offensive areas, but he'll likely improve a power play that's lagged at 19th this season (20.5%).

The team coveted Meier for those reasons, but also for his size. He's listed at 6-1 and 220 pounds and plays every bit as big as that. As the Devils head to their first postseason berth since 2018 -- and seek their first playoff round win since 2012 -- they've faced questions from skeptics about their physicality and lack of playoff experience. Meier helps answer them, both as a big body in the offensive zone and with 35 playoff career playoff appearances. If you watched some of those Sharks' wars in the Western Conference, you know he understands the intensity of that postseason grind and the chaos of rivalry series -- like the one the Devils are on course for in the first round against the New York Rangers.

So that's Meier now. What about the rest of this trade and Meier in the future?

He's a restricted free agent this summer with a $10 million qualifying offer to retain him for another season. For weeks, the Devils were hoping to land Meier and get him locked into a contract extension. That didn't happen. The Devils have the cap space to absorb a $10 million hit -- the luxury of smart contracts and young talent -- but sources say it's not something they're eager to do. The goal is now to get Meier comfortable, happy and committed to signing a new contract with a less deleterious cap hit.

Hence the conditions on the picks. The 2023 first-round pick is top-two protected, which is essentially disaster insurance: If the Devils somehow fell out of a playoff seed all the way into the lottery and ended up selecting first or second -- and given their luck with the lottery, who's to say they wouldn't? -- that pick would remain with New Jersey and their 2024 first-rounder moves to San Jose instead.

Let's assume the Devils make the playoffs. The Sharks also receive a conditional 2024 second-round pick. If the Devils make the 2023 or 2024 Eastern Conference finals and Meier played in at least 50% of his team's playoff games in 2023, the Devils hand over their 2024 first-round pick -- which is still top-10 protected -- instead of that second. If that pick ends up in the top 10, then it's a 2025 first-round pick going to San Jose.

The bottom line: The Devils did not have any draft pick tied to Meier signing an extension in New Jersey, which is interesting.

As far as the players they sent to San Jose, Johnsson is a pending UFA with a $3.4 million cap hit. His three-year run with the Devils was done. Zetterlund has some upside, with 20 points in 45 games, but has some growing to do as a complete NHL player. He could be a nice middle-six forward for the Sharks.

Mukhamadullin and Okhotiuk could both end up as NHL defensemen. But the Devils were dealing from a position of strength here: Mukhamadullin could be the fourth best defensive prospect in New Jersey's system, depending on how one feels about Seamus Casey.

That's the real key to this deal. Surrendering what could be two first-round picks for what could be two seasons of Meier isn't ideal. But much less ideal would have been to give up Dawson Mercer, Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec or Alexander Holtz in this deal. For that, they should be applauded.

What Fitzgerald has essentially said with this trade is that the future is now. Yes, there's a multiple-year window for the Devils to contend for a championship -- Luke Hughes and Nemec haven't even arrived yet! -- but they're also third in the NHL in points right now. At their best, they can beat anyone in this league. They have a superstar in Jack Hughes. They have an outstanding young cast around him, from Hischier to Bratt to Dougie Hamilton to the playoff heroism of Ondrej Palat. And now they have Timo Meier, and with 50% of his salary retained, they have room to add more.

(Oh, and Scott Harrington and an array of minor leaguers. Let's not deny love to our veteran pending UFA insurance defenseman.)

As one NHL source noted during the trade talks: "Timo checks almost every box for them."

One last thing on the trade: The Devils had to land this player. There was a modicum of embarrassment for the franchise when it looking like Johnny Gaudreau was going to be a Devil last summer and he opted for Columbus instead.

They were the front-runner again here. They were willing to go bigger and better with their offer than the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes could go as the other finalists. They weren't going to lose out on another high-profile target. And they got their man. The question now is, "For how long?"

 

[Sparkleton]

Hopefully this can be revisited when we meet in the conference finals

Shark’s fan coming in peace. Timo isn’t a fighter and you don’t want him to be one. Not his skill set.

He also doesn’t put up with people messing around so if antagonized he’ll respond equally. His toughness is measured in taking a hit to make a quality scoring chance or plowing through people to get off a good shot. Watching people bounce off him and seeing a quality shot is fun.

He’s a set it and forget it forward that creates his own scoring chances. You could slot him anywhere and he’ll create scoring chances by crashing into people and getting a shot off regardless. He doesn’t need a center, that is his value.

 

[NjDevsRR]

Shark’s fan coming in peace. Timo isn’t a fighter and you don’t want him to be one. Not his skill set.

He also doesn’t put up with people messing around so if antagonized he’ll respond equally. His toughness is measured in taking a hit to make a quality scoring chance or plowing through people to get off a good shot. Watching people bounce off him and seeing a quality shot is fun.

He’s a set it and forget it forward that creates his own scoring chances. You could slot him anywhere and he’ll create scoring chances by crashing into people and getting a shot off regardless. He doesn’t need a center, that is his value.

Exactly the kind of top 6 forward we needed