Fantasy Hockey Feature: What's happening with Timo Meier?

A common refrain over the last 18 months is some variation of ‘What happened to Timo Meier?’. Across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons with the San Jose Sharks, he had 66 goals and 62 assists in 134 games, averaging 4.3 shots and over 2.0 hits per contest. Since landing with the New Jersey Devils, he has 37 goals and 29 assists in 90 appearances, averaging 3.1 shots and 1.7 hits per game. It has been a drastic decline, so let’s look at what’s happened in New Jersey, how he can thrive again in 2024-25, and what we should do with him in fantasy drafts. 

Ice Time

The first, and most obvious, cause of the production decline is the decline in ice time. Meier’s last full campaign with San Jose was 2021-22 and he averaged 19:09 per game. Before the trade in 2023, he was just shy of 20 minutes a game