Big contract, smaller role and fewer goals: Ex-Sharks star Meier adjusts to New Jersey
Timo Meier returns to SAP Center on Tuesday when the New Jersey Devils face the San Jose Sharks
SAN JOSE – It’s been a year – almost to the day – since Timo Meier had been traded from the San Jose Sharks to the New Jersey Devils. But the winger still had some items from his residence on Santana Row that he needed to pick up.
“I still have a spot here and some stuff here, so it’s like the second packing I had to do,” a smiling Meier said Tuesday morning at SAP Center. “Mostly clothes. A lot of clothes. I had to throw some stuff out. Too many clothes.”
Meier appears to be glad to be back on the West Coast, arriving in town to enjoy a bit of the mild California weather before the next rainstorm arrives.
Perhaps it was also good for Meier, everyone on the Devils roster, and coach Lindy Ruff to get a brief respite from the mounting pressure the underachieving Devils are no doubt feeling back home with time running out to make a playoff push.
Entering Tuesday’s game with the Sharks, which begins a three-game California swing, Meier and the Devils, who advanced to the second round of the playoffs last season, are seven points out of a wild card spot with 24 games left to play.
The Devils (29-25-4) also came into the game with the second-worst team save percentage in the NHL at .883, and their power play, while ranked 14th in the NHL at 22.4 percent, is 4-for-39 this month, a 10.3 percent success rate that ranks next to last in the league.
New Jersey lost 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lighting on Sunday and entered this week with just four points in its last six games. That prompted fans inside the Prudential Center to begin once again chanting, “Fire Lindy,” near the end of the third period, and one writer who covers the Devils to also call for Ruff’s dismissal.
“I take full responsibility,” Ruff said after Sunday’s loss. “You want to win. We’ve dealt with a lot. The players want to win. I’m responsible for the wins and losses. Who gets on the ice, and who doesn’t get on the ice.
“I’ve said this before: We’ve got a very passionate fanbase. They want to see wins. In a back-to-back and if you look at our home record, that part hurts. So I feel fully responsible.”
Meier feels the weight of expectations, too.
Meier is the Devils’ highest-paid forward, having signed an eight-year, $70.4 million contract extension with New Jersey last June. It would have made zero sense for the Sharks to offer him a similar deal, given that they were already missing the playoffs with him, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, and other veterans.
But he got that from the Devils and now everyone wants to see if he can deliver. He scored 40 goals between his time in New Jersey and San Jose last season, or once every other game.
He’s well back of that pace now, with just 11 goals and 24 points in 45 games before Tuesday.
“I have high expectations for myself,” Meier said. “I want to grow as a player and I want to win. That’s the biggest thing. Just try to get better every day. There will be highs and lows, but just learning from them and staying positive. Keep coming in every day with a positive attitude.”
Meier was the Sharks’ most-used winger by the time his tenure ended in San Jose, but that’s not the case in New Jersey. While he averaged 20 minutes of ice time in 57 games with the Sharks last season, he’s at 16:39 this season.
“It’s maybe a little different role on this team that I had on the Sharks, so it’s definitely a little bit of an adjustment there,” Meier said. “Different teammates. I was playing with some of the same guys for such a long time and we kind of knew where they were at all times, and you had that chemistry.
“So it’s just about building that and trying to find your game maybe in a different role, but it’s down to just trying to go out there and helping your team win in whatever way you can.”
East Coast fans hit a bit differently too, especially when things are not going well.
“The passion is there by both (Sharks and Devils) fan bases. Maybe some fans express it a little differently than others,” Meier said. “But that’s part of our business and you’ve got to handle those situations.”
The Sharks got a haul for Meier when they sent the power forward to the Devils on Feb. 26, 2023.
Sharks general manager Mike Grier received forward Fabian Zetterlund, defensemen Nikita Okhotiuk and Shakir Mukhamadullin, a 2023 first-round draft pick that turned into forward Quentin Musty, and a conditional second-round draft pick this year.
Zetterlund, before Tuesday, was tied for the team lead with 15 goals and figures to be with the Sharks for years to come.
Mukhamadullin is injured now but could be with the Sharks full-time next season. The Athletic just rated Musty as San Jose’s second-best prospect behind Will Smith and projects to be someone that can be in the NHL within three years.
But that’s the future. The Sharks, right now, are one of the worst teams in the NHL, while the Devils, if they can keep the puck out of their net, can be a Cup contender with all of their skill up front.
Ultimately, the Devils will be judged this season on whether they can make the playoffs and have some success, and Meier will be judged on how much he contributes to that success.
Regardless of his wardrobe.
“Sometimes it can be frustrating. You want to score a lot of goals, you want to create and play and be out there,” Meier said. “But sometimes just maybe the puck doesn’t bounce your way.”