I always wonder what his point total ceiling is with NJ.. NJ obviously have some other offensive studs on the team that put up more points than Mercer and get the prime mins on the first line and first PP group… Mercer is a good young player but seems as though he will be on that second line and 2nd PP for quite some time.That down season was a blessing in disguise. Probably saved us 3M on his cap hit. He's a much better player than he showed last year, I expect a big bounce back.
I always wonder what his point total ceiling is with NJ.. NJ obviously have some other offensive studs on the team that put up more points than Mercer and get the prime mins on the first line and first PP group… Mercer is a good young player but seems as though he will be on that second line and 2nd PP for quite some time.
What do Devils fans think his ceiling is?? I always think he should every season be in the 50-60 point mark roughly???
Seems like a good contract for both sides
I think that was the deal to go long and get a big discount long term for the Devils.
This is the kind of player you build around...
I would have pushed for a longer deal.
He gets much more than if he doesn't have such a setback last year.Damn that is a pretty sweet cap hit for NJ.
No contending team should be building around Mercer. He’s a terrific complementary piece, but he’s not making or breaking the core.
This deal is great value for the Devils and Mercer is still an RFA at the end of it.
Maybe the player had been holding on for more earlier in the process?If this is all it took to get it done this should not have taken all summer
Agreed. He's a much better player than he showed last year, so I think NJ has a steal for 3 years now.He gets much more than if he doesn't have such a setback last year.
He is pretty bad defensively and can't be trusted at center, so he really needs to score points in order to provide value. Last year he struggled to score points and it really hurt his value. With NJ getting healthy and adding some significant depth, and a new coach, I think his numbers will bounce back and he'll get a very nice contract in 3 years (either in NJ or elsewhere).
He is in that perfect sweet spot of young enough and cheap enough that if he REALLY sucks you can probably find a desperate team to take him as a reclamation project, and if he REALLY improves you can trade him away for a small ransom.
I would respectfully disagree with you. If he is bad defensively, why did Jersey use him on the PK? He was second on the team for forwards SH TOI per game behind Haula.He is pretty bad defensively and can't be trusted at center, so he really needs to score points in order to provide value. Last year he struggled to score points and it really hurt his value. With NJ getting healthy and adding some significant depth, and a new coach, I think his numbers will bounce back and he'll get a very nice contract in 3 years (either in NJ or elsewhere).
He is in that perfect sweet spot of young enough and cheap enough that if he REALLY sucks you can probably find a desperate team to take him as a reclamation project, and if he REALLY improves you can trade him away for a small ransom.