The New Jersey Devils have acquired Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks, a source confirmed to ESPN on Sunday.
Meier is a restricted free agent, with a $10 million qualifying offer this summer. According to a source, the trade to New Jersey does not include an extension, as the Devils are comfortable using Meier as a «rental» and then see if a long-term deal is possible.
Meier has 31 goals and 52 points on a rebuilding club that was playing out the string. He was held out of San Jose's practice by coach David Quinn on Feb. 19 because of an upper-body injury and has not played since.
The Devils, who have made the playoffs just once since 2012 and have entered a rebuild in recent years, are a year ahead of schedule, general manager Tom Fitzgerald told ESPN last month. With 83 points in 59 games, the Devils entered Sunday in second place in the Metropolitan Division, trailing the Carolina Hurricanes.
According to sources, the Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights were the finalists in the talks for Timo Meier. Those teams were not given permission to speak with Meier's agent, Claude Lemieux, about a potential extension, a source told ESPN.
Acquiring a rental player is against Fitzgerald's typical philosophy — which is that teams are built over the summer — however the GM wanted to capitalize on an exciting season in New Jersey to build momentum for the team's future.
Meier was one of the biggest names available ahead of the March 3 trade deadline because of his age (26) and the team control San Jose could sell to potential suitors.
«Everyone is talking to San Jose about Timo Meier,» one Eastern Conference said during the All-Star break. «Everyone is monitoring it.»
The All-Star forward was the No. 9 overall pick in the 2015
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