Timo Meier has been a member of the New Jersey Devils for roughly two and one third seasons now. Coming over from the San Jose Sharks just prior to the 2023 trade deadline, Meier was viewed as an impact piece that could help share the team’s scoring load, while also bringing some toughness to the group. While Meier did have some initial struggles adjusting to his new team, he did manage a respectable nine goals and five assists across the 21 games he played in. He followed that up by going absolutely ice cold in the first round of the playoffs (compounded by a questionable Jacob Trouba hit), but recovered to add four points in his four second round appearances. While the Devils were eliminated, it seemed that a full season in Jersey could bring about bigger things for Meier.
But first, a new contract was needed. Meier had been acquired from San Jose as an impending restricted free agent, meaning both he and valuable teammates Jesper Bratt both needed new deals. Both would re-sign before July even rolled around; Bratt would get his deal done first, coming in at eight years and $7.875 million per season. Meier would sign about two weeks later for a deal of identical length, but at a higher $8.8 million per season cap hit, making him the highest paid forward on the Devils. For that type of money, Meier would surely be rivaling Jack Hughes for the team scoring lead going forward, right?
Well…not quite…
Meier would see his point total dip in 2023-24 down to just 52 in 69 games; credit where credit is due though, he did lead the team in goal scoring at 28. However, there were three other forwards with 27: Bratt, Hughes and Nico Hischier. All guys making less money who outscored Meier in total points by a wide margin; Nico was the next closest and had 15 more points while only appearing in two more games than Timo. While Jack would have the best points per game rate of all four, it would be Jesper Bratt, appearing in all 82 games, who would lead the team with 83 points. Yes, the same player who had just signed for a million less per season than Meier put up 31 more points than the highest paid forward on the team. He slid even more last season; he would record one more point for a total of 53, but he played in 80 games, meaning he actually contributed less points per game than he did in 2023-24. Bratt meanwhile? He would only appear in 81 games this time, but set a new career best again with 88 points for a team that struggled at times to score.
With all the talk of bad contracts, a key defender still unsigned partly due to cap space and the complete lack of depth scoring last season, maybe it’s fair to start lumping Timo Meier in to the “problems” pile for the New Jersey Devils. Maybe there was some excusing his performance in 2023-24, as he was reportedly battling injuries throughout the season, even when he was in the lineup. But 2024-25? There was no such reported injury issues, nothing that would result in Meier putting up less points per game than he did during the season prior. Meier will turn 29 just prior to the start of the 2025-26 regular season, so it’s not as if father time is going to ruin him and turn him into a black hole of offensive production. But should the Devils contemplate finding a way to move on from him?
Well, I think before the Devils move on from him, maybe they should try to maximize him first. Despite some appearances with the unit, Meier isn’t being used on the team’s top power play regularly, as he ranks sixth on the team in power play time on ice per game at 1:52. Only 13 of Meier’s points last season came from extra man situations, while Bratt (34), Hischier (29) and Jack Hughes (27) all had a larger chunk while seeing roughly a minute more of ice time per power play. One could argue that Timo’s stats don’t merit him getting time on the top unit, but at the same time he’s never really been given that chance. For a player making the most of any of the forwards, maybe it wouldn’t hurt the Devils to try him there, or at the very least, to create two more balanced power play unit to spread out the scoring responsibilities.
Even if the Devils set him up for success, if Timo continues to trend as a roughly 50-55 point per season forward, then he has to start being seen as part of the problem. Some fans are critical of how disappointing Dawson Mercer has been, yet Mercer makes less than half of Meier’s salary and put up 36 points, which is more than half of Timo’s. Additionally, Mercer spent a lot of time in the Bottom 6 last season while Meier was typically getting more even strength ice time in the Top 6. If we’re going to be that upset with a $4 million forward seemingly underachieving, I think we should be even more critical of an $8.8 million dollar forward who is definitely underachieving. Another season of middling should have Meier in the conversation for a trade.
It wouldn’t be easy to move on from him though, as even with the rising salary cap, not a lot of teams will want a forward making as much as he does for the numbers he’s producing. Maybe there’s a team that feels like they would have a better situation for him if they brought him on. Regardless, I don’t think anyone is taking him for five more seasons as his current cap hit if he puts up a repeat this year. The Devils could retain some salary of course, but the problem would be them not getting back much (if anything) of consequence. The additional cap space would be the real win, but then you have to go out and replace Meier with some of it anyway.
Maybe later on in the contract the Devils decide to part ways with Timo, but for now, I think he’s going to be sticking around for a few more seasons. Between the rising cap and other, less valuable contracts still on the team, Meier isn’t the biggest issue. Maybe Meier turns back the clock a bit and gets closer to the 76 points he put up for San Jose in 2021-22 than the sub-55 point seasons he’s had for the Devils. If he can do that, and the Devils can keep getting contributions from elsewhere, than maybe Meier helps propel them deep into the playoffs as they hoped he would when they brought him to Jersey in February of 2023.
What are your thoughts on Timo Meier’s time as a Devil; do you think a bad 2025-26 could see him put on the trade block? Do you think it’s still too soon to judge the situation? Are you concerned that there wouldn’t be much of a market for him if the Devils decide to move on? Are you more concerned about how the Devils would go about replacing him? Do you think he turns it all around and has a season that you would expect from an $8.8 million player? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!