Devils Notebook: Meier Resurgence, Hughes' Usage & More

Some notes on Timo Meier's resurgence, Travis Green changing Luke Hughes' usage, and more in this New Jersey Devils notebook.

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The New Jersey Devils are winning games at a better clip, with four victories in their last five contests. Here are a few notes on their recent play and what's stood out as they cling to life in the playoff race. 

Timo Time Is Back

The plan is to do a deep dive on Timo Meier's 2023-24 campaign once the season is over, but let's talk about his resurgence over the last month or so of games. He's been one of the NHL's leading scorers in March, with 19 points in 14 games — a pace of 111 points over 82 games.

Meier's strong run of play began before March, though. And it certainly started before the Devils moved on from Lindy Ruff and replaced him with Travis Green. Meier has 27 points in his last 26 games dating back to Feb. 1, with 15 of those points being goals. That's a 47-goal pace over 82 games. 

A significant reason Meier is back to looking like Meier is he's once again become a high-volume shooter. He has 82 shots on goal over his last 26 games, an average of 3.15 shots on goal per game. 

Meier has also become one of the team's top drivers at five-on-five, with an expected goals share (xG%) of 54.86 percent since Feb. 1. The Devils are averaging 3.13 expected goals per 60 minutes with him on the ice since then, though that has dropped a bit under Green. 

But even then, the Devils are tilting play when Meier is on the ice. He's reformed chemistry with Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier on the team's top line, helping them win four of their last five games. I think some, maybe many, will chalk it up to the coaching change or Meier playing right wing, but those aren't true. 

Meier has played maybe five minutes at right wing since the coaching change, and he started playing well before Ruff got fired. He's back because he's now 100 percent healthy, or at least close to it. After a slow start, there's a chance he hits 30 goals, something that would have been unthinkable a month ago. 

Is the Coach Bump Here?