The San Jose Sharks organization and fans alike have been patiently waiting for the emergence of Timo Meier. And its here. It’s now Timo Time, all the time.
The Swiss born young forward is entering his 2nd full season sporting Teal for the San Jose Sharks. He is coming off a 36 point season, potting 21 total goals over the course of 81 games in the 2017 – 2018 season.
Meier has exhibited that he is capable of being one of the most effective skaters so far this season. His underlying stats so far are illustrating that he is more than just a depth forward. Meier seems to be developing into the all star caliber skater he was predicted to become when he was drafted in the first round of the 2015. NHL draft
Last season he and other callow Sharks forwards impeccably filled the void left by the departure of Mr. Shark himself, Patrick Marleau. Timo Meier’s powerful skating ability and persistent puck management hasn’t gone unnoticed to the Team Teal faithful and hockey fans alike.
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This year is no different. Meier’s play for the San Jose Sharks has materialized into some impressive statistics. While Team Teal takes its time trying to find its identity with the addition of Erik Karlsson, Timo is seemingly taking the responsibility of generating offense into his own hands. He has produced 12 points, while compiling a team leading 8 goals over the course of the first 11 games of the season.
He has arguably been the San Jose Sharks most effective forward. The underlying numbers suggest that Meier is only going to progress more as this season rolls along.
Along with his impressive 8 goals, he leads the San Jose Sharks with 46 iSCF, with ridiculously 25 of those being considered highly dangerous opportunities.
For a graphic representation of how Meier gets work done in the offensive zone. We can use the handy Hockeyviz tool from Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) that charts all 5v5 unblocked shot by a single player.
Timo has established that whenever he is on the ice he will be in close proximity of the opponents crease. This fares well with the Sharks high to low strategy in the offensive zone, with the defensemen looking for passing lanes and trying to yield rebounds with shots from the blue line.
From the looks of Meier’s zone usage over the first 11 games of the season it appears that Pete DeBoer really trusts his ability to play in all 3 zones. He definitely should, considering that Meier leads all Sharks forwards with 9 takeaways. Timo can play a 200 foot game and this season he’s really shown his hockey prowess in everywhere on the ice.
According to Corsica Hockey he sports a balanced .50 ZSR, with 33.1% of his shifts starting in both the offensive and defensive zone. Along with his utilization on the penalty kill Timo is no doubt the Sharks strongest defender at forward.
Something that is unappreciated about Meier’s game is his skating ability. We all know that he’s powerful on his skates and has the capacity to shield the puck from defenders, but his speed seems undervalued.
Combined with his puck handling prowess, his straight line velocity has generated some dangerous chances in the offensive zone. Meier is tied for second in the league in zone rush attempts with 5. He has some speedy company at the top of the list with players like Jack Eichel, Kasperi Kapanen, and Erik Haula.
The development of Timo Meier over the past couple of years have been enjoyable to watch considering the San Jose Sharks have had a difficult time drafting and developing their first round picks over the past few years.
Timo is the only first round selection from 2013 – 2017 who hasn’t been shipped off to another team for other assets. So getting to observe a player of Meier’s skill rise through the organizations depth chart is a refreshing change of pace.
He has exhibited flashes of greatness over the previous two seasons, which made the San Jose Sharks target him with their ninth overall pick in the 2015 draft. But this year it appears that he’s taken his game to new heights. Watch for Timo Meier to flourish this year and finally become that power forward he’s been touted to be since he was a teenager.
Every stat used to write this post was provided by naturalstattrick.com, unless stated otherwise.