New Jersey Devils Send Two More Players to Men’s World Championships

Hockey Canada announced its 22-man roster for the upcoming IIHF Men’s World Championships in Czechia later this month, with New Jersey Devils forward Dawson Mercer and goalie Nico Daws making the cut.

In Czechia, Mercer and Daws will meet up with a former friend in longtime Devils defenseman Damon Severson, who is one of Canada’s seven defensemen for the tournament. Severson, of course, spent nine years in New Jersey before the Devils traded his rights to the Columbus Blue Jackets last summer for a third-round pick.

The chance to play for Canada in the World Championships represents a different opportunity for Mercer and Daws.

Just 22 years old, Mercer is coming off his third season in the NHL and has played a ton of hockey in a short period of time. The former first-round pick has played in all 82 games in each of those three seasons, and that doesn’t include the Devils’ 12 playoff games last year.

Mercer crossed the 20-goal threshold for the Devils for the second year in a row, but his third season in the NHL was largely a disappointment otherwise. Despite averaging a career-high 17:13 in ice time, Mercer had career-lows in assists (13), points (33), plus-mins (-26), and shots on goal (134).

With an increased opportunity, Mercer was involved offensively far less often than in previous years, and the Devils’ defense and goaltending situation made things a lot worse for him. A featured role for Canada may help the young Devils forward get back on track ahead of next season.

As for Daws, his situation is similar to Mercer’s but also distinctly different. Daws returned from hip surgery on Dec. 8, and the Devils threw him into the fire three weeks later on Dec. 29. The 23-year-old was mostly good but struggled with consistency the same way he did in 2021-22.

Consequentially, Daws finished his 2023-24 NHL season with a stat line almost identical to the one he put up two seasons ago.

Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has made it clear that he is going to take a big swing at a proven, veteran No. 1 goaltender, but that doesn’t mean the Devils have given up on Daws in the long term. Daws stopped 61 of the last 64 shots he faced this season, which is good for a .953 save percentage.

After that, the Devils went with Jake Allen and Kaapo Kahkonen in a last-ditch effort to save their season.

With just 46 NHL games under his belt, Daws can take this experience with Canada at the World Championships and bring it with him to training camp later in the summer. He’ll be behind veteran goaltender Jordan Binnington, who just had an excellent season for the St. Louis Blues, and likely be competing with Joel Hofer, who did the same, for some minutes, too.

Both Daws and Mercer will be restricted free agents for the Devils this summer.