Report: Insider Believes Devils Trade Offers for Dawson Mercer Turned Down

NEWARK — We’re just over two weeks away from the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline and the rumor mill is certainly churning. The New Jersey Devils are in desperate need of goaltending. In fact, the Devils have rookie Isaac Poulter backing up Nico Daws against the New York Rangers on Thursday. Poulter just signed his first NHL contract one week ago. And in net, Daws is starting his sixth straight game with Vitek Vanecek on the injured reserve. As a result, Dawson Mercer’s name has come up in plenty of trade speculation. According to one insider, the Devils are unwilling to involve him in a deal at this time.

Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman joined 102.5 The Game with Caroline, Willy, & D-Mase for his weekly hit on Nashville radio. While discussing the possibility of the Nashville Predators and Devils working together on a Juuse Saros deal, he had this to say about Mercer.

“I believe some of the teams that have been dealing with the Devils on other issues have asked about Mercer and I believe they’ve been told no,” Friedman explained. “But, you never know what can happen, right? I know he’s a player that the Devils value. If he was on the table, I think that would excite the predators a lot. Casey, I haven’t seen him a lot but I’ve heard good things… but I know he’s a really talented kid. If Mercer was available, there would be teams that would drive to New Jersey to pick him up. So, if in some world that deal happened, I think the Predators would be very happy with that, and their fans would eventually be happy with that too because Mercer is a real talented young kid.”

For those wondering why the Devils have been hamstrung by the possibility of general manager Tom Fitzgerald acquiring Jacob Markstrom, this is likely the reason. The word is that if Preds GM Barry Trotz is going to entertain a Saros deal, he’d have to be blown away. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun projected a deal with the Los Angeles Kings would need to include someone like Quinton Byfield.

Therefore, it appears Fitzgerald is at least focused on Markstrom as the compensation for the Calgary Flames appears lesser. The Flames are reportedly interested in Alexander Holtz amongst other assets in a potential Markstrom deal. As a result, the Devils are able to keep Mercer in the fold and acquire the necessary goaltending they’ve been longing for.

This isn’t the first time that Mercer’s name has been involved in trade rumors. Last season, Mercer’s name came up plenty in the Timo Meier sweepstakes and Fitzgerald was able to pull that off without forking over the 22-year-old forward. At this time, that priority appears to remain in place.

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