Trade Analysis: New Jersey Devils acquire Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks

It simply made too much sense not to eventually happen. For all of the rumblings about teams like the Carolina Hurricanes, Vegas Golden Knights, and St. Louis Blues being in the mix for Timo Meier's services leading up to this year's trade deadline, it was always going to be the New Jersey Devils. 

They're the perfect trade partner for the San Jose Sharks here. They're flush with useful assets for an organization that's looking to get younger and cheaper as it embraces a long rebuild ahead. They're also the most motivated of the bunch to acquire Meier specifically because he checks about every single box they're looking for themselves.

Regular readers of my work on this site are surely already familiar with my thoughts on the fit between player and team here. I've only been openly pleading for New Jersey to go out and get him for a couple of months now. If you went into a lab and created a specific type of forward to seamlessly insert into this current Devils lineup, it would look an awful lot like Meier. 

They sure made us wait for it though. The time between word initially breaking that he was going to New Jersey on Sunday afternoon and the details of the actual return trickling out one by one into the evening felt like an eternity. But we finally got all of it, and have plenty of new information to digest now. 

So let's get that process started by unpacking why I like this deal so much for the Devils. We'll break down why the two are such a fantastic match, how he's going to have his biggest impact, and what this means for everyone involved moving forward.