We’re less than a week from the 2023 NHL trade deadline and the pieces are moving off the board quickly.
On Sunday, the New Jersey Devils traded with the San Jose Sharks for Timo Meier, one of the most sought-after names ahead of the deadline. After a weekend of activity, Meier is the latest domino to fall as the 3 p.m. ET deadline on Friday, March 3 continues to loom over the season.
The Sharks are one of the biggest sellers coming into the 2023 NHL trade deadline and the Devils have been the biggest rumored destination for Meier for some time now. While the asking price for Meier was quite high, the Devils paid the price to snag one of the top names on the market.
As the dust settles on this major NHL deal, let’s break down the details of the Meier trade and give out grades to both the Devils and Sharks!
The details
This deal is quite the doozy, so let’s strap in and take a look at all the pieces moving here.
- Devils get: F Timo Meier (50 percent retained), F Timur Ibragimov, D Scott Harrington, D Santeri Hatakka, G Zachary Emond, 2024 fifth-round pick
- Sharks get: F Andreas Johnsson, F Fabian Zetterlund, D Nikita Okhotiuk, D Shakir Mukhamadullin, 2023 first-round pick, 2024 first-round pick (conditional), 2024 seventh-round pick
Here are the conditions on that 2024 first-rounder as well.
Condition on 2024 1st Round Pick: #njdevils must reach East Conf Final in 2023 or 2024, and Meier plays in 50% of games in 2023, then it will become Top 10 lottery protected 2024 1st round pick.
If those things do not happen, it becomes a 2024 2nd Round Pick. https://t.co/itAXbuu4TC
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 27, 2023
New Jersey Devils
Devils grade: A+
It’s astounding anyone has gotten above 30 goals on this Sharks team this year, but Meier is one special player. With back-to-back 30 goal seasons — three overall in his seven-year career — Meier has made himself the top trade chip this season. And now, the Devils have added him to their roster ahead of a hopefully deep playoff push.
Meier will slide perfectly into the Devils’ top six, which has been carried heavily by Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier this season. Netting Meier to help ease the scoring burden on the Devils’ top players is a great piece of work from general manager Tom Fitzgerald. For those worrying about an extension, as Meier is a UFA come summer, it seems as if the 26-year-old forward is open to an extension.
Not only that, the Devils also didn’t give up a single player of note to land Meier, preserving their current core and major future prospects in one fell swoop. The two first rounders are a high price, make no mistake, but the Devils are fully in their win-now window and are flexing accordingly.
San Jose Sharks
Sharks grade: D
Getting two first rounders out of New Jersey saves this deal from being a complete failure, but failing to get any of the Devils’ top prospects is quite disappointing. Mike Grier had leverage here with Meier, as multiple teams were in on the forward and yet this is the deal the Sharks settled on.
Plus, we’re still a handful of days out from the deadline itself. Why not wait until the deadline was a bit closer in an effort to squeeze the teams in the running just a bit more?
Grier and the Sharks really settled on quantity over quality here, which is going to be a major sticking point for San Jose fans. I can’t blame them either. And if I were a fan of a team like Carolina or Vegas that were in the running for Meier, I’d be wondering why my team didn’t pony up the same middling return for one of the best players of this trade deadline class.
