During the New Jersey Devils’ 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Oct. 16, Devils’ forward Timo Meier was benched by head coach Lindy Ruff.
Meier’s benching came after taking back-to-back tripping penalties in the second period. Only playing one shift in the third period, Meier ended up with only 11:29 of ice time, third-lowest for New Jersey.
Now three games into the 2023-24 season, the first year in an 8-year/$70.4 million deal signed last June, Meier finds himself in the doghouse with zero points.
On Tuesday’s episode of "Daily Faceoff LIVE," Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss Meier’s benching on Monday night, and if the 27-year-old can get back to being a productive player in the Devils’ lineup.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s look at a notable benching in the league last night, and that’s Timo Meier. I said this guy was a lock for 40 goals this year – not off to a great start with just four shots in three games.
Lindy Ruff was not hiding his feelings about this. He said everyone should be angry with that loss and that it was a coaches decision on Meier not playing in the third period. He even had a line that said, “Timo Meier can’t be taking the penalties that he did.”
Frank Seravalli: I’m really concerned if I’m the New Jersey Devils. You mentioned a “lock for 40 goals,” and I was thinking to myself, “Is there a chance Timo Meier is overrated?” If you look at his career progression and his numbers, he’s been south of a point-per-game player for a couple of years. Yes, he’s twice touched 30 goals, but he’s never really threatened to get to 40.
It’s really the way he came into New Jersey last year that was so disappointing. He was a non-factor in the playoffs. Then to start this way after signing a $70.4M contract this summer, (40 goals is) is a lot to ask in New Jersey. I just wonder if, at some point, we’ve gone too far and penciled him in for this big of a leap without crystal-clear evidence to say that he could get there.
You can watch the full show here…
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