Meier's Reflection Leads to Commitment in Jersey | FEATURE

Timo Meier knew to listen to and trust his gut.

After spending some time reflecting on a season that saw his year start in his familiar home of San Jose and then traded to New Jersey, adapting to a new team, new teammates and a new city, and then a playoff run, there was a lot to digest.

And at the end of all the reflection, there left little doubt. Timo Meier wanted to be a New Jersey Devil and be a New Jersey Devil for a long time.

"I wanted to take some time to myself and just listen to myself, listen to my stomach," Meier said of taking some time before signing his 8-year deal, "And I knew this is the place where I want to be and I'm so happy we got this done and now you know, the focus is on preparing myself for the season."

After being dropped into the Devils lineup right off of his trade, Meier joined the team in the midst of playing every other day with little time to practice and even littler time to digest the whirlwind scenario. There is a lot of consider when committing long-term to a team, you're moving your life there, you're investing all your time in the team, and Meier wanted to make the right choice for himself.

And after his period of reflection, everything aligned. All aspects of life fit neatly into what New Jersey has to offer.

"When I had time to reflect," Meier elaborated, "reflect on the time I had in Jersey and kind of look at it all, you know, look at the team, look at the future of this team, the area, the fan base, all those things, to management. That's kind of the time where I really had the time to myself to think about everything and consider everything and that's the time I realized that's the place I want to be and, that's the place I want to go and win the Stanley Cup."

And it wasn't just the team, it was also New Jersey itself.

Meier says he's a big family man, very close he says, to both his family and friends back home in Switzerland, and that also played a part in his consideration process. Being in New Jersey offers he and his family a closer flight to and from his home country, making it easier on everyone. Meier says he's a person who likes different cultures and being close to New York affords him a chance to go there, experience what it has to offer as well.

But what it boils down to, in the end, is the people that he will spend the next eight years of his life with.

"Just being in an environment with a great group of players, the management has been really great to me, all the staff and everybody working for the Devils has been so welcoming to me right from the start. I think that's also something that was part of this decision."

And then of course, there's the Swiss connection. That cannot be discounted. On March 9, 2023, Meier along with Nico Hischier, Jonas Siegenthaler and Akira Schmid appeared in the same game together, marking the first time four Swiss players played on the same NHL team in a single game.

That means something to Timo.

"We love our home country," he grinned, "it's going to be nice to be with my Swiss buddies for a long time now. even when I got traded (to New Jersey), the conversation was always it would be so great if can stay here long term and really chase our goals, the Stanley Cup."

It's hard to go wrong when you put as much thought into a decision as Meier has said he has. He trusted his gut.

So what ultimately did it tell him?

"It's a special thing that's going on."