The San Jose Sharks have struggled over the last few weeks, passed in the Pacific Division by both the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers and at risk of dropping into a wild card position. With this in mind, they’ve made a change to their forward group, sending young Timo Meier down to the AHL on Monday afternoon.
Despite having solid analytical numbers, Meier has struggled to contribute offensively since his call up in December. In February he was sent back to the AHL to work on shot selection after recording just five points in 26 games. Recording just a 4.6% shooting percentage during that time, he was getting forcing the puck to the net just a bit. During his latest stint with the team he generated 16 shots in six games but again failed to score, this time registering just one assist.
The Sharks can’t afford to keep Meier around if he’s not helping them win, and with the recent injury to Joe Thornton sapping them of even more center depth, they’ll have to bring up someone who can play the middle and help them limp into the playoffs. Don’t think this is the last of Meier though, as at just 20-years old he still has a long NHL career ahead of him.