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Dawson Mercer

Devils Sign Dawson Mercer To Three-Year Deal

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3:20 PM: The Devils have confirmed the signing through a press release.

9:38 a.m.: Mercer’s deal consists solely of base salary, PuckPedia reports. He’ll earn $3MM in 2024-25, $4.75MM in 2025-26, and $4.25MM in 2026-27. That means he’s owed a $4.25MM qualifying offer upon expiration in 2027.

7:06 a.m.: The Devils and restricted free agent forward Dawson Mercer have come to terms on a three-year, $12MM deal, Darren Dreger of TSN reports Friday. It’s good for a $4MM cap hit.

Mercer, 23 next month, was one of four notable RFAs still left unsigned after training camps began across the league earlier this week. Now, only Nikita Alexandrov (Blues), Cole Perfetti (Jets), and Jeremy Swayman (Bruins) remain without deals among RFAs who logged significant NHL time last season.

The 2020 No. 18 overall pick is coming off a down year, making it easy to shift negotiations toward a bridge deal rather than shelling out cash for a long-term pact with greater risk for the team. The Newfoundland and Labrador native still managed to hit the 20-goal mark but posted career lows in assists (13), points (33), and rating (-26).

Mercer is a skilled shooter, finishing on 14.3% of his 449 shots on goal over his three-year career. He’s also proven highly durable – he’s yet to miss a game since making his NHL debut on the opening night of the 2021-22 regular season.

While a natural center, Mercer has spent most of his time on the wing in the NHL. That’s partly because the Devils have Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes locked in as their top two centers but also because of Mercer’s struggles in the faceoff dot. He’s improving in that regard, winning 119 of his 265 draws last year (44.9 FOW%), but still has a career win rate of 39%.

He’s flashed hints of his offensive ceiling, posting 56 points in 2022-23 during New Jersey’s resurgent 112-point campaign. His production and possession numbers have primarily risen and fallen with the team’s record, so with the Devils primed to return to postseason competition next spring, expect a rebound from Mercer.

General manager Tom Fitzgerald said they were close to a deal over a month ago, but it took quite a lot of work to finalize. There were near-daily reports over the past few days that the Devils and Mercer were feverishly working toward getting him signed and in training camp as soon as possible.

After averaging a career-high 17:13 per game last season, including significant time on both special teams units, Mercer will look to stick in a more consistent top-six role at even strength in 2024-25. He bounced around plenty last year, not recording more than 100 minutes of ice time with a single set of linemates, per MoneyPuck. Early line rushes at training camp, accounting for placeholders, suggest he could open the season alongside Hughes and Timo Meier.

The Devils now have $976K in projected cap space with an open roster spot after Mercer signed, per PuckPedia. That figure assumes defenseman Luke Hughes will start the season on standard injured reserve with a shoulder injury, not long-term injured reserve.

Keeping Mercer’s cap hit to $4MM allows the Devils to carry a full 23-man roster on opening night without needing to place Hughes on LTIR to open up cap space. Santeri Hatakka is the likeliest candidate to fill in as an extra defender on the NHL roster after posting two assists and a +5 rating in 12 games in fringe action for New Jersey last season.

A three-year deal doesn’t walk Mercer to unrestricted free agency. He’ll still be under team control when his deal expires after the 2026-27 season.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Devils Notes: Pesce, Mercer, Haula, Nemec

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New Devils defenseman Brett Pesce is still recovering from season-ending surgery and isn’t on the ice with his teammates as training camp begins, the team’s Amanda Stein relays.

Pesce, 29, is listed as week-to-week. That designation doubts his availability for the Devils’ season opener, their Global Series matchup against the Sabres in Prague on Oct. 4.

The former Hurricane underwent surgery to repair a fibula fracture he sustained in Game 2 of last year’s First Round series against the Islanders. He reached unrestricted free agency for the first time this summer, signing a six-year, $33MM contract with New Jersey on July 1.

Pesce is coming off the worst offensive season of his career, having been limited to 13 points (3 G, 10 A) in 70 contests. His 20:17 ATOI was also his lowest since his rookie season in Carolina.

His usage likely won’t improve much in a second-pairing role behind Dougie Hamilton on New Jersey’s right side, nor will there be any power-play opportunity for him with Luke Hughes also in the picture. However, the strong skater and cerebral defender has a +92 rating in 627 career contests and has controlled over 50% of expected goals at even strength for four seasons in a row.

More from the Devils as training camp gets underway:

  • Unsigned restricted free agent Dawson Mercer remains away from his teammates, but general manager Tom Fitzgerald doesn’t expect his absence to stretch out much longer. Fitzgerald told reporters Thursday, including James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now, that he thinks “we’re really close” to an agreement being finalized. Contract negotiations have been on the front burner for over a month as the sides work toward a likely short-term pact, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said a couple of weeks back.
  • Center Erik Haula was absent from practice Thursday with an undisclosed illness, per Stein. It’s not a cause for concern this early in camp with the Devils’ first preseason game, which will likely be thin on veterans, still three days away. Haula has been a solid middle-six presence since being acquired from the Bruins in the 2022 offseason, logging 76 points in 156 games as a Devil while averaging 16:45 per night and winning 54.5% of his draws.
  • Rising sophomore defenseman Simon Nemec has full medical clearance after sustaining an injury while suiting up in an Olympic qualifier game for his native Slovakia late last month, Fitzgerald said (via Nichols). The second overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft didn’t crack New Jersey’s opening night roster last season but quickly worked his way up the depth chart, making 60 appearances in his rookie year while finishing 14th in Calder Trophy voting. The right-shot defender projects to start the season in a third-pairing role behind Hamilton in Pesce after posting 19 points and a -7 rating with strong possession quality numbers in fringe top-four minutes in 2023-24.

Metro Notes: Mercer, Karlsson, Danforth

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The New Jersey Devils are prepping to begin training camp tomorrow without forward Dawson Mercer but the team hopes it won’t be for long. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported earlier that the team continues to discuss a new contract with Mercer but there is still no deal.

Mercer has been one of the most consistent forwards for the Devils over his entry-level deal as evidenced by the fact he has not missed a game since debuting in the 2021-22 NHL season. His first two years saw him score 44 goals and 98 points in 164 contests for New Jersey but his scoring depressed last year with 20 goals and 33 points in 82 games. The dip in scoring last year and his discouraging defensive play during his first three years may be why contract talks have dragged into training camp.

He’s still a solid tactician in the offensive zone and his change-of-direction capabilities make him an obvious choice to put on the right wing next to Timo Meier and Jack Hughes. New Jersey currently has just under $5MM in cap space which should allow them to sign Mercer on a two-year bridge deal if both sides are amicable.

Other Metro notes:

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins were without top defenseman Erik Karlsson on the first day of training camp due to an upper-body injury (X Link). Head coach Mike Sullivan indicates the absence of Karlsson was only precautionary according to Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Karlsson is looking to rebound from a 56-point campaign during the 2023-24 NHL season and his offensive output should improve with David Quinn taking over the team’s powerplay coaching duties.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets received some positive news on the injury front as team reporter Jeff Svoboda relays that forward Justin Danforth has been medically cleared from an offseason wrist injury and can begin ramping up for the regular season. Danforth was a bright spot for the Blue Jackets last season on the team’s bottom-six putting up 10 goals and 26 points in 71 games while only averaging 14:16 of ice time per night.

Devils Optimistic About Signing Dawson Mercer Before Camp

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The Devils continue to grind away at contract negotiations with restricted free agent forward Dawson Mercer, and there’s a sense of optimism the two sides will agree on a bridge deal before training camp opens Wednesday, Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports.

Talks seemed to be at a standstill for much of the summer until New Jersey general manager Tom Fitzgerald told James Murphy of Responsible Gambling last month that he’d exchanged proposals with Mercer’s camp and was working toward an agreement. Multiple reports since then indicated a short-term contract was the likeliest outcome. PHR’s Brian La Rose examined possible comparables for Mercer’s pending deal earlier this month, exhausting any long-term options.

The Devils have less than $5MM in projected cap space to get a deal done, per PuckPedia. That number could increase slightly to begin the season if they place defenseman Luke Hughes on long-term injured reserve while rehabbing a shoulder injury. Still, they’d need to clear enough cap space to activate him quickly, as his absence isn’t expected to stretch past early November.

A bridge deal with a sub-$5MM cap hit seems fair to both sides after the season Mercer just had. The 2020 first-round pick’s third NHL season was his worst, posting career lows in assists (13), rating (-26), and shots on goal (134). That came despite a career-high 17:13 ATOI and playing in all 82 games yet again, continuing his career-opening ironman streak.

Yet Mercer, who turns 23 in October, hit 20 goals for the second time and projects as a reliable, versatile top-six utility piece who can play any forward position, even if his overall production this season reflected someone better suited for a third-line role offensively. After hitting 56 points in his sophomore campaign, it’s clear Mercer’s contract year was a bump in the road – one with unfortunate effects on his short-term earnings.

Possible Comparables For Dawson Mercer’s Contract

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One of the more prominent remaining free agents is Devils forward Dawson Mercer.  While he’s coming off a down season, he has had enough success over his first three NHL seasons that New Jersey would likely want to work out a long-term deal with them.  Whether they can afford to, however, might be a different story.

The 22-year-old had the lowest output of his career last season but still managed 20 goals and 13 assists while playing all 82 games for the third straight year.  But with a 42-point effort in his rookie season and a 56-point showing in his sophomore campaign, there’s enough of a track record for a long-term deal to potentially make sense.

Looking at some potential comparables, one of their division rivals has a couple of them in Joel Farabee and Travis Konecny (his current deal, not the extension he just signed).  Both were post-entry-level pacts, checking in at $5MM and $5.5MM respectively.  Mercer’s numbers are better than Farabee’s so it’s likely to come in above that while Mercer’s best year was better than Konecny’s at that point.  If we use cap percentages (to reflect the increase in the salary cap at that time), the range of the two deals moves to between $5.333MM and $5.94MM.

Other possible comparable players in that range are Florida’s Anton Lundell ($5MM signed this year) and Nick Schmaltz ($5.875MM).  Notably, none of those contracts were for the maximum eight years either; three were six-year agreements while Schmaltz was the exception at seven seasons.  At this point, something in the high-$5MM area might be the right fit on a six-year deal for Mercer, one that would buy out two years of UFA eligibility.  Going longer (adding on more UFA years) would only push that price tag higher.

But even affording the six-year contract would appear to be a challenge at first glance.  At the moment, the team projects to have $4.976MM in cap space for the upcoming season, per PuckPedia, with a projected 22-player roster.  They could increase that wiggle room by not carrying a full-sized roster but that leaves them vulnerable to injuries.

It’s also worth mentioning that they have more than $5MM in potential performance bonuses for Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes so they may want to leave themselves some wiggle room to absorb some of those – if earned – on the 2024-25 cap instead of rolling them over to their 2025-26 cap.  Additionally, they will almost certainly want to leave themselves some room for in-season movement.

Put it all together and a long-term contract simply isn’t doable, not without moving someone of consequence off their current roster.  And while something like that isn’t impossible, a lot of teams are now tight to the cap ceiling so it’s not as easy as it was six weeks ago to move money; let’s face it, it wasn’t all that easy then either.

That squarely pushes the contract needle in the bridge direction for Mercer.  A two-year agreement would only cover one arbitration-eligible season but should check in around the $3.5MM per season mark, one that would leave GM Tom Fitzgerald at least $1MM in flexibility heading into the fall.  That’s not a lot – especially if there’s an early injury – but that would still have them in reasonable shape.  With him being four years away from UFA eligibility, something in the three-to-five-year range would be a bit riskier so it’s less likely to be one of those lengths.

While it might sound simple enough in theory, this is the type of contractual situation that can drag out.  If Mercer’s camp wants to hold out for the possibility of a long-term agreement, they’ll need to wait to see if something happens in terms of roster movement over the next six weeks or so.  And if both sides are resigned to a short-term agreement, Mercer could simply opt to wait until closer to camp to see if there’s an injury that gives him a bit more leverage and perhaps gives him a chance at a bit more money.  Neither of those scenarios are any reason for concern, that’s just sometimes how things play out with players coming off entry-level deals if they’re not signed at this point.

Despite the down year, Mercer is quite likely to be viewed as a key piece of New Jersey’s plans for the foreseeable future.  But with how their roster looks, it seems unlikely that they’ll be able to give him the type of contract commensurate with a core player.  Barring a change, that contract will have to come after they get through a bridge deal first.

East Notes: Kapanen, Kolosov, Mercer

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Canadiens center prospect Oliver Kapanen signed a two-year deal with Swedish Hockey League club Timrå IK back in May. He’s already made quite an impression on his new head coach, longtime NHLer Olli Jokinen, who showered the 21-year-old with praise in a recent interview with Marco D’Amico of Responsible Gambling.

In fact, Jokinen’s been so pleased with Kapanen’s play during the SHL preseason that he’s concerned about him spending more time than expected in Montreal next month when he heads to North America for training camp. “He’s been too good for our league so far this preseason, playing like a dominant force in every single game,” Jokinen said. “He’s been great offensively, scoring some goals, but also defensively and in the faceoff circle, which will be his biggest advantage going into Montreal.”

Kapanen may have inked a multi-year commitment with Timrå, but he also signed his entry-level contract with the Canadiens shortly thereafter. While technically eligible for assignment to the AHL’s Laval Rocket, there’s a European Assignment Clause in his ELC that will allow him to return to Timrå if cut from Montreal’s NHL roster, Jokinen said.

It would be a surprise to see Kapanen unseat another Canadiens youngster like Joshua Roy to win a roster spot, but the Finnish national is certainly trending in the right direction after recording 34 points in 51 games last season with Liiga’s KalPa. If he does play this season in Timrå, he’ll likely be their leader in ice time among forwards as “a first-line center with power play and penalty kill time,” said Jokinen.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • The Flyers are now operating under the assumption that goaltending prospect Alexei Kolosov won’t be reporting to training camp, Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reports. He also adds that general manager Daniel Brière remains unwilling to loan the 22-year-old back to Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, where he’s played for most of the past four seasons. Kolosov, a third-round pick of the Flyers in 2021, has two years left on his entry-level contract with Philadelphia. He’s been in dispute with the club about where to play this season since at least May, when reports emerged he had trouble adjusting to the North American environment after ending the 2023-24 campaign with a pair of appearances for Philly’s AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on Friday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast that he’s confident the Devils’ pending agreement with RFA forward Dawson Mercer will be a short-term one. With just under $5MM in projected cap space (PuckPedia), he doesn’t think the Devils would be able to fit a long-term deal with Mercer under the cap this season without a significant preseason corresponding transaction. Mercer remains unsigned with less than two weeks to go until training camp, but general manager Tom Fitzgerald said last month that a resolution wasn’t too far off.

East Notes: Demidov, Crosby, Mercer

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One of Ivan Demidov’s countrymen is optimistic the top-five pick will have a strong run of success in Montreal. Former Canadiens winger Alexander Radulov spoke to Sergey Demidov of Responsible Gambling about the 2024 fifth-overall pick and said Demidov will be “having a blast” when he likely begins his NHL career in the closing days of the 2024-25 season.

“Yes, he will be pressured, and he should understand that,” Radulov said. “But he should turn that pressure to his advantage. In Quebec, fans understand hockey. If you give it all, they see it and appreciate it. They even have hockey on their five-dollar bill.”

Radulov, who spent the 2016-17 season in Montreal, will be Demidov’s rival in the Kontinental Hockey League this season as the youngster takes on his first full season of professional hockey. Demidov, 19 in December, had one of the best seasons in Russian junior hockey history last year with SKA St. Petersburg’s U20 club, where he lit up the circuit for 60 points (27 G, 33 A) in just 30 games. He remains on SKA’s main roster two days ahead of their regular season opener, and all signs point to him starting his post-draft season with the main squad.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • Each day that passes without a Sidney Crosby extension means more anxiety for Penguins fans. The face of the franchise is entering the last season of his 12-year, $104.4MM contract and has been eligible to sign an extension since July 1, but there hasn’t been any news despite the two sides being reportedly close for months. Trade speculation will keep heating up the closer we get to training camp, influencing TSN’s Travis Yost to at least break down the likelihood of Crosby being moved at the trade deadline. “Imagine for a moment that the Penguins struggle early,” Yost writes. “It is precisely Crosby’s loyalty to the franchise that would suggest a trade could be fruitful: the returns even for a rental of Crosby would be extraordinary, and under the same assumption that Crosby’s loyalty is unwavering, he would return back to Pittsburgh (with possibly more help rostered as soon as 2025-26) on his retirement deal.“
  • Could more teams follow in the Hurricanes’ footsteps and use deferred payments to help get long-term deals across the finish line? It’s at least something to look out for in the case of the Devils and RFA forward Dawson Mercer, posits James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. New Jersey is down to $4.98MM in projected cap space, per PuckPedia, a figure Mercer’s AAV on a longer-term deal would likely eclipse by a slim margin. Deferring a small percentage of the contract until the end of the agreement would help it get across the finish line, at least from the team’s perspective. Whether Mercer is willing to accept the structure remains to be seen.

Checking In On Notable Remaining Restricted Free Agents

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We are now three weeks away from training camp opening up in the NHL with preseason games coming quickly after. We recently checked in on several free-agent players looking for new homes shortly before preseason action and we’ll now pivot to notable restricted free agents still looking to re-up with their current clubs.

Goalies

One of the most oft-mentioned restricted free agents over the summer has been Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins. Recent reporting indicates that Swayman is not looking for the rumored $10MM a year salary but is looking more in the $8.5MM range. This would be a welcome sign for most teams but not for the Bruins as they are seeking a contract closer to $6MM a year and that gap is not close to getting bridged. They may come together soon and agree to a short-term pact that could lead Swayman to unrestricted free agency and give the Bruins more time to figure out their salary cap structure; this has all the makings of a contract negotiation that could leak into the regular season.

A reasonable price for Swayman may land between both asking prices with honest arguments. Swayman has earned a 79-33-15 record in 125 starts over his career in Boston with a .919 SV% and 2.34 GAA. There is a legitimate argument that Swayman has benefited greatly from the team playing in front of him and sharing the net for several years with now-Ottawa Senator, Linus Ullmark. Swayman’s side will likely argue that $8.5MM is a reasonable salary for an undisputed starter on a playoff-caliber team. He earned the majority of starts last season (43) and finished sixth in the league in goals saved above average with 16.4 with approximately 10 fewer games played than other goaltenders above him.

Defensemen

It’s been a quiet summer for the 2021-22 Calder Memorial Trophy winner Moritz Seider. He saw his entry-level contract expire on July 1st and very little has been reported on regarding current negotiations between himself and the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings currently own around $17.65MM in cap space so money won’t be an issue in retaining either Seider or his teammate Lucas Raymond (more on that later).

The young German defenseman has not missed a game since making his NHL debut on October 14th, 2021, and has been Detroit’s best defenseman since then. He’s been solid offensively with 21 goals and 134 points in 246 games over his entry-level deal but his defensive metrics are much more difficult to interpret. Seider is regularly put into bad situations when he hits the ice as the Red Wings’ most serviceable option on the back end. He’s finished towards the bottom of the roster in on-ice save percentage over his three-year career but he also finishes towards the top of the team in defensive zone starts.

The other notable restricted free-agent defenseman is nearly 1,200 miles away in Dallas, Texas. Thomas Harley is coming off an electric season with the Dallas Stars scoring 15 goals and 47 points in 79 games. He quickly became an offensive option behind Miro Heiskanen and gave the Stars more of a complete powerplay. The most recent reporting came on August 9th with general manager Jim Hill maintaining confidence that Harley will sign soon.

Forwards

Circling back to Detroit; Raymond joins Seider as another restricted free agent yet to re-sign with the Red Wings. He’s a more complicated situation to interpret as Raymond exploded offensively with 31 goals and 72 points last year. The young Swedish forward averaged 53 points a season before that so Detroit may have more desire for a short-term pact before they commit to Raymond as a first-line talent. Coupled with a shooting percentage 6.4% higher than his career average last year; the Red Wings may believe a certain amount of regression is in order next year.

Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes arguably represents the most talented option left on the board. A report yesterday from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period indicates a long-term deal may be on the horizon. It’s no surprise why both sides are targeting a long-term contract as he already showed his importance last year for Carolina before the organization lost a few key forwards this summer. He finished second on the team in scoring last season with 33 goals and 67 points in 82 games while chipping in another five goals and nine points in 11 postseason contests. The contract should eat into much of Carolina’s remaining salary cap space of $6.44MM according to PuckPedia.

The last notable restricted free agent forward we’ll touch on is Dawson Mercer of the New Jersey Devils. The two sides have reportedly exchanged proposals which lends to the idea a deal will be done soon. He’s not as high-profile as some of the other forwards on New Jersey’s roster but Mercer has been a consistent and available scorer since entering the league three years ago. He hasn’t missed a game since the start of the 2021-22 season which has become invaluable to a Devils’ roster that has been rocked by injuries the last few years. Given his reliability and offensive abilities his AAV should land between Ondrej Palat ($6MM AAV) and Erik Haula ($3.15MM AAV) on the Devils’ salary cap table.

New Jersey, Dawson Mercer Working Toward Extension

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The New Jersey Devils kick-started a busy offseason by acquiring goaltender Jacob Markstrom earlier in the summer from the Calgary Flames. Once free agency opened on July 1st, the team brought Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, Stefan Noesen, and Tomas Tatar around an already talented roster. The Devils only have one item left on their plate before training camp opens up in September — the looming extension for forward Dawson Mercer.

In an interview yesterday with RG.org, the general manager of the Devils, Tom Fitzgerald said, “We are working towards an agreement after exchanging proposals“. This quote is a good indication that the two sides will get a deal done before training camp starts as it confirms the two sides are far enough down the line where they have exchanged offers. Although the Devils may have gotten an offer sheet scare last week with the deals made between Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg, and the St. Louis Blues, the relationship between New Jersey and Mercer may nix any idea of that happening.

Given the Devils’ current salary cap situation, the deal will likely be on the shorter term. New Jersey currently has just under $5MM in salary cap space according to PuckPedia. Unless Mercer is willing to take a sizeable discount to stay with the Devils organization, a long-term deal appears out of the question.

Fitzgerald may take a similar approach to Mercer’s teammate Jesper Bratt, who signed a pair of short-term deals before agreeing to an eight-year contract extension last summer. Mercer has scored 64 goals and 131 points in 246 regular season contests during his entry-level contract which makes for a similar point-per-game percentage as Bratt during his entry-level contract. Once Bratt’s first contract ended after the 2019-20 season, he and the Devils agreed to a two-year, $5.5MM deal.

If New Jersey hopes to sign Mercer to a similar contract, it will likely land in the $6MM range over a two-year deal. The salary cap has increased by $6.5MM since Bratt signed his deal and Mercer should look for a similar percentage of the available cap space. A $3MM AAV would give the Devils just under $2MM of cap space to work with during the regular season giving them plenty of flexibility to make in-season additions.

Mercer is a valuable asset to New Jersey as he slots in well on the team’s second line and second powerplay unit. He has also not missed a game since his rookie campaign in the 2021-22 season which is a bonus to a Devils’ team that has struggled with injuries in recent years.

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