New Jersey Devils Q&A - June 20, 2023

I answered your questions re: off-season targets, expectations for Holtz, whether Colton could be a fit, and much more.

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I haven’t done a Q&A post in the better part of a month. With the NHL off-season soon set to kick into high gear, now is a good time to change that.

Let’s get right to the questions.

Q: Who is next year’s 2nd highest point getter (behind Jack) and why?

I’m going with Timo Meier. Although this past season was a bit of a down year for him in terms of points, he is only a year removed from a 76 point season (in 77 games).

This past year he spent 440 minutes on a line with Kevin Labanc (33 points), more than 350 minutes with Alexander Barabonov (47 points), was mis-used while adjusting to new surroundings in New Jersey, and he still cleared 40 goals.

If his individual points percentage of 63.46 aligned with what we usually see from Meier – he posted IPPs of 72.53%, 80.33%, and 77.55% the past three full seasons prior to last – we’d be talking about 75-80 points last season, which would’ve put him in Nico Hischier territory for 2nd on the team.

I would like to think Meier can once again flirt with 40 goals playing consistent minutes with a No. 1 center every night, be it Nico or Hughes.

I also think it’s fair to expect his assist outputs to rise. Whether it’s at even-strength or on the power play, Meier will have a lot of high-end players around him almost every shift. There are plenty of guys capable of filling the net when he produces chances for them.

The Meier-Hischier-Jesper Bratt pot will likely all finish within 5-10 points of one another but I’m going to go with Meier. I think he’s going to be a bigger focal point of the offense – and top power play unit – in his first full year with the team.

Q: What should expectations for Alex Holtz be moving forward with NJD?