|
Thoughts on Brunette and Nashville / Free Agency: RFAs - Timo Meier |
|
|
|
|
|
Before profiling the RFA Timo Meier, we had some news come out of Nashville earlier this week. Andrew Brunette has been hired as the head coach of the Predators, leaving his assistant coach position here in New Jersey. He also succeeds former Devils head coach John Hynes, who coached parts of four seasons in Nashville with a record of 134-96-18 and three first round playoff exits. Brunette spent only one season as an assistant coach, aiming to improve their special teams play and elevate the team into a stronger echelon. As per Hockey Reference, the Devils were slightly above the league average for power play percentage at nearly 22% and a very strong penalty kill percentage at 82%. Our power play ranked 13th in the league while the kill was 4th, according to Covers. These are both very strong improvements over the previous season. In addition to that, he seemed to take lead roles during crucial games, drawing up plays during time outs and revving up the energy on the bench. Personally, I was hoping they would “promote” Ruff to managerial positions while Brunette took the head coaching job but I totally understand the sentiment of keeping Ruff in place after the turnaround season we had. Best wishes to Brunette in Nashville and here’s to hoping we can fill the spot with a coach who won’t see our progress on those fronts dwindle. I would love to see what Sergei Brylin could do with Brunette’s role, making room for a possible promotion of Kevin Dineen from Utica, assuming Dineen would be willing to become an assistant in lieu of his current head coach role in the AHL. Please leave your comments about who you would replace Brunette with.
Here’s an update on our possible RFA situation and cap so far:
Offense:
Nathan Bastian - Resigned $1.3M (could be 1-3 years, up to Bastian/Devils)
Jesper Boqvist - Resigned $1.5M (1-2 year prove it deal)
Jesper Bratt - Resigned $7.5M (Assuming a trade doesn’t come along that we like)
Michael McCleod - Resigned $1.75M
Timo Meier
Yegor Sharangovich
Defense:
Kevin Bahl
Goaltending:
MacKenzie Blackwood
Remaining Cap - $22,032,500
Our next RFA to discuss is:
Timo Meier
Fun Fact: Timo’s Swiss hometown of Herisau played an important role in the history of psychology. The town’s local mental hospital was where Hermann Rorschach worked and developed his inkblot test, publishing the influential Psychodiagnostik in 1921.
Season Storyline:
Drafted 9th in 2015 by San Jose, Timo Meier has done well for himself, solidifying his role as a top 6 winger. As we approached the trade deadline, the Devils pulled the trigger and made a deal with San Jose. In exchange for Meier (½ salary retained), a 5th round pick, and minor league pieces, the Devils sent to the Bay Area Andreas Johnsson, Fabian Zetterlund, Nikita Okhotiuk, Shakir Mukhamadullin, a conditional 1st and 2nd pick in successive years, and 7th round pick. Out of the ransom, I think the Devils will end up missing Zetterlund the most based on his youth, size, and bottom-6 gritty creativity. Hopefully, we can get him back in the offseason to shore up our roster depth. Since being added to the roster, he’s performed well in the regular season and had flashes of mixed success in the playoffs which we’ll get into below. He played many roles in the special teams and seemed to bounce in between different lines pretty regularly. Whether that’s due to new team jitters, usual Ruff line chaos, or something else, that’s up to your perspective.
Stat Analysis:
Timo Meier went 9G-5A-14P in 21 games in NJ while going 2G-2A-4P in 11 games in the playoffs. His strong skating, big body, and impressive sniper shot found its groove the farther we went into the season, showing growing chemistry with his teammates, particularly fellow Swiss Nico Hischier, before stabilizing the Hughes-Mercer 2nd line on the left wing. He also became a rock for the offense in general for the Devils, averaging around 17:50 of ice time and 12.1% of shots. He also used his frame to contribute physically. Now, he did struggle to get on the scoresheet during the playoffs. In his defense he was nursing an injury and the Rangers did a solid job of isolating him physically, hoping to avoid his playoff scoring potential (he scored 15 points in 20 games with SJS during their run to the Western Conference final.)
Benefits and Drawbacks for Bringing Back:
Benefits - Proven top 6 winger with a cache of attributes and proven regular season success with serious playoff potential
Drawbacks - Up and down transition to NJ, expensive contract.
Should we keep him:
Verdict - Keep. As hopeful as I am of keeping both him and Bratt, this offseason, I believe the Devils losing Timo would be worse than losing Bratt, considering his skillset, size, and performances over the last few seasons.
Comparable Contract:
Timo Meier is a top 6 winger at 26 averaging with three 60+ point seasons and a points per game being around 0.85 between SJ and NJ this year. Considering that, here are some comparables:
Filip Forsberg, NSH - $8.5 M
Jared McCann, SEA - $5 M
Jordan Kryou, STL - $8.125 M
Nicolaj Ehlers, WPG - $6 M
Jonathan Huberdeau, CGY - $10.5 M
With his contract expiring at $6 M and approaching the age of 27, Timo Meier will be looking max out his potential contract earnings. He is a proven threat and strong piece of this team the Devils should keep together if they wish to repeat their success this year and avoid stepping back into the struggling results of previous seasons. With a range of $7M-$10.5M, realistically, he’s probably going to cost around $8M-9M. I understand it’s expensive, but to invest in future success, we’re probably looking around $8.5M. If that’s the case the cap remaining will be:
Leftover Cap - $14,032,500
Leave your thoughts or comments below. Raise Hell!
-Josh Biringer
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»