New Jersey Devils React to Dawson Mercer Absence

NEWARK — To say that the first day of training camp was intense is an understatement. New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe had his players bag skating before they even did a single drill. In fact, the bag skates were so intense that the groups on the ice involved received a 45-minute break after the skating drills, then re-emerged to the practice ice for skills and drills. Suffice to say, Dawson Mercer is already missing quite a bit.

We learned on Wednesday that the Devils and Dawson Mercer were still quite a ways away on a contract agreement. Yes, there has been progress, but clearly not enough. As a result, Mercer is not in Newark at the Prudential Center.

Life goes on.

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And that’s somewhat of the approach that the Devils took, too. When asked about Mercer’s absence from camp, Devils superstar Jack Hughes explained it’s “different,” but they had a tough day under Keefe to distract them from the thought.

“Obviously, [Mercer is] a great guy. It is different. But we’re all hoping he’s going to get his deal done and then meet us and be ready to go for Prague,” Hughes said to New Jersey Hockey Now. “So I think we had enough to worry about today. But, you know, we all really, really love Dawson as a guy and a player, and we’re hoping he can make it here in the next few days.”

Mercer figures to be a fixture in the Devils’ top-six. However, in his absence, the Keefe put Hughes and Jesper Bratt together with Timo Meier. While captain Nico Hischier skated with Tomas Tatar and Kevin Labanc — who is on a professional tryout contract.

It’s easy to imagine that if Mercer was present, he would be next to Hischier and Tatar just based on their successful history as a line. Thus, Labanc is getting his chance to earn a contract.

As Bratt says, all the Devils can do is focus on the here and now.

“Well, obviously we want him to be here. I mean, he’s a huge part of our team,” Bratt explained to New Jersey Hockey Now. “But at same time, right now, we have to focus on the guys who are in the room. We have to put our minds into having the best practice and best first day at camp that we possibly can do with our own performance. And we just hope that obviously that situation gets solved on their hands, so he can come in here and be with us.”

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