The New Jersey Devils have emerged on the scene this year, as their young core of players has put it all together this season to become a contender in the Eastern Conference. The team has been rewarded for its performance by general manager Tom Fitzgerald, who completed a trade with the San Jose Sharks to acquire forward Timo Meier, the best player available ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline. There are a lot of moving pieces in this deal, but we know all of them and we know the goals of each team.
The Devils currently have 83 points, three behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first-place in the Metropolitan Division. They have the third-most points in the league only behind the aforementioned Hurricanes and the Boston Bruins. The Eastern conference is an arms race and clearly the stronger conference. The Devils were looking to bolster their lineup, and they did with the best player on the market.
Meanwhile, the Sharks have 48 points, which is the fourth-least in the NHL. They are clearly rebuilding, offloading Meier, who is just 26-years-old and on an expiring contract. They got three prospects in the deal to try to jumpstart their rebuild.
The full details are as follows: The Devils get Timo Meier with the Sharks retaining 50% of his salary, defenseman Scott Harrington, defenseman Santeria Hatakka, forward Timur Ibragimov, goalie Zach Emond and a 2024 fifth-round pick (from Colorado). The Sharks get a 2023 first-round pick, a 2024 conditional second-round pick (becomes a first if the Devils make the conference final in 2023 or 2024 and Meier plays 50% of the games), a 2024 seventh-round pick, defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin, forward Fabian Zetterlund, defenseman Nikita Okhotiuk and forward Andreas Johnsson.
With the biggest piece of the NHL Trade Deadline being moved, it is time to assess how both sides did in this deal.
New Jersey Devils: A
When you get the best player on the market, it is hard to get a bad grade. When you get that player without giving up arguably the biggest trade chip you have, it's pretty much impossible. The Sharks undoubtedly asked for Dawson Mercer, a 21-year-old center, but the Devils were able to complete the trade for Meier without including him.
The other big part of acquiring Meier is that it means he is not on the Carolina Hurricanes, who were one of the other main players. So the Devils gain the best player on the market, and keep him away from a team they could easily face in the playoffs. Now it could be Meier alongside Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier facing the team that could have had him.
The draft compensation could end up being two first-round picks if the Devils make the Eastern Conference Final in the next two seasons, but that is something the franchise would gladly sign up for.
The only thing keeping this from being an A+ grade is that Meier is a rental. The Devils could extend and it would be an A+ in my book, but as of now it looks like Meier will finish out the last year of his contract with the Devils. Regardless, this was good business by Tom Fitzgerald.
San Jose Sharks: C
As mentioned before, it would have been amazing for the Sharks to have gotten Dawson Mercer in this trade. That is why this grade is what it is. However, Sharks general manager Mike Grier just might not have had the leverage at this point. Other contenders have been making moves or have had moves lined up. The Boston Bruins traded for Dmitry Orlov and the Toronto Maple Leafs traded for Ryan O'Rielly. The New York Rangers traded for Vladimir Tarasenko and seem to have another deal lined up for Patrick Kane. That left the Hurricanes and potentially a team like the Vegas Golden Knights. Eventually, you have to take what you are offered to get some value, and it seems Mike Grier did that in this case.
The draft compensation is fine, and could end up being great if the Devils succeed. This is a deep draft class, so picking up extra capital is important for a rebuilding team. As for the players, Shakir Mukhamadullin is the biggest piece they got back. He was a first-round pick in 2020. The other players were mainly included to make the salary cap work out for both teams.
The draft compensation is the main reason the Sharks get a C grade here. The player compensation is a big underwhelming for the best player on the market.
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