NHL: ‘Canes and Devils Looking to the West For Help

The San Jose Sharks are in desperate need of a makeover. Trading one of their key players might be their only option to getting the rebuild underway. Meet Timo Meier.

The San Jose Sharks are in desperate need of a makeover. Trading one of their key players might be their only option to getting the rebuild underway. Meet Timo Meier.

Meier is drawing serious interest

The Swedish forward could fetch a pretty penny with Carolina, Winnipeg and New Jersey all reportedly interested in acquiring him prior to the Friday, March 3 NHL trade deadline. Meier is 13^th in the league in scoring with 31 goals and has 21 assists. He’s arguably the top scorer on the market and has an imposing nature around the net.

Every contender in the NHL should want him, even if he does carry a $10 million qualifying offer this offseason.

The Devils reportedly have been dogged in their pursuit of Meier, reportedly telling the Sharks they won’t the final say before a trade gets done.

The Devils are a serious player

While Boston has emerged as the big story in the Eastern Conference, New Jersey is a developing story, in a good way. They’ve got a roster of good young players and Devils fans are salivating at the possibility of adding Meier to a lineup that includes Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Yegor Sharangovich and Dougie Hamilton. It would lift the Devils into the elite team status in the East, along with the Bruins and Hurricanes. There’s also a possibility that New Jersey will need to deal Bratt who is a restricted free agent. If not they’re still expected to have enough salary cap space to fold Meier’s qualifying offer into the books. There’s also the possibility that the Devils sign Meier to a contract extension something the Sharks have been trying unsuccessfully to do.

What is Timo’s price tag?

For their part San Jose would like to add a 1^st round pick or numerous early picks in exchange for Meier. New Jersey has the depth to do it but so does Carolina.

It appears that the Devils are in the drivers seat for Meier’s services. But with days, not hours remaining until the Friday, March 3 deadline, another team could emerge as a trade partner. Maybe even a team from the Western Conference where the first and eighth place teams are separated by just a few points.