On Dawson Mercer's mixed bag of a season

Despite a down year mired by inconsistency, Mercer still put up some encouraging numbers; particularly when it came to 5v5 scoring.

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Expectations were extremely high for Dawson Mercer entering the 2023-24 season.

He followed up a very strong rookie campaign with 27 goals, 29 assists, and 56 points as a sophomore.

A healthy chunk of that production came at 5v5 and a very high percentage of the points were primaries, meaning he was directly involved in creating the goals.

The hope was that the 22-year-old would take another step while playing a big role on a New Jersey Devils team that was supposed to contend for the Stanley Cup. That didn’t happen.

Mercer recorded only 33 points in 82 games – by far the worst outputs of his career – and was inconsistent for large stretches on a team that could’ve used more from him.

His season was quite the mixed bag, which is not ideal for him in a contract year.

Let’s take a closer look.

The good

• For all his faults – and quiet spells – Mercer still scored goals at a healthy clip. He potted 16 at 5v5 alone, which tied him for 61st in the NHL. Jesper Bratt, Mitch Marner, Alex DeBrincat, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Connor Bedard, and Tage Thompson are just a few of the players Mercer finished on level pegging with. That’s pretty good company for Mercer in what everyone would consider a down season. Scoring goals at 5v5 is very difficult, which is why not even two players per team (on average) were able to best his outputs.

• Mercer scored 5v5 goals like there’s no tomorrow despite less-than-ideal playing circumstances. He shared the ice with Jack Hughes – who he was so good with a year ago – for only 140 minutes of 1100+ minutes at 5v5. He played only 170 with Nico Hischier so it wasn’t as if he constantly rode shotgun with the captain, whom he should also be productive with, and we’re cherry-picking stats here. For Mercer to rank so highly in 5v5 goals despite playing ~310 of 1100 minutes with one of the team’s elite centers is encouraging. Realistically speaking, you’re not getting more goals out of Mercer with that usage.