ST. PAUL – On paper, Timo Meier's production after he was reassigned to the AHL Barracuda on Feb. 16 was down. The former first-round pick had just six points (3g, 3a) in 14 games, and was scoreless in his last five, a far cry from what he was doing there earlier in the season and way off his numbers in juniors.
But at just 20 years old, Meier is still in the learning phase of his professional career. And as impressive as the Barracuda have been this season, they're still playing in a developmental league, first and foremost. Meier got a chance to work on some of the aspects of his game he needed to work on.
"It was obviously hard going back," said Meier, who has three goals and two assists in 28 games, before Tuesday's game in Minnesota. "Sometimes you go back there and you try too much, but they told me to work on some things in my game, and I tried to do that.
"For me, going down there it was all about learning stuff on the ice, off the ice. … It's my first year [in pro hockey], so as a young guy you want to learn and listen to the coaches, too. Just get better."
Coach Pete DeBoer went into pretty good detail on what the ninth overall pick in the 2015 draft needed to do with the Barracuda, and what he needs to show now that he's back in the NHL.
"I think with a lot of big, talented young guys, they have to realize when they can make an extra play with the puck and when they have to chip it in," DeBoer said. "They're so used to dominating at the levels they've been at for so long, that [it's] easier said than done. It's habits you have to learn, and you don't learn unless you're doing them on a consistent basis."
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Meier's shot selection, too, is something that needed some improvement, according to the coach. While the power winger might be generating plenty of shot attempts, no doubt pleasing the advanced stats crowd, there's more to being an effective forward than running up numbers on the Excel spreadsheets.
"You don't want to shoot [just] to shoot up here, or to just get shots on net. You're not scoring on NHL goalies like you are on junior goalies from 30 or 40 feet out," DeBoer said. "You've got to pick your spots. Sometimes you have to look for a better play than a shot."
Meier said: "It's a really tough league. As a young guy coming in, sometimes you've got to stay patient, too, try not [to do] too much. … Sometimes I tried [to do] a little too much."
Meier has been in the Sharks' lineup for each of the last two games. He started on the fourth line before getting bumped up to Tomas Hertl's third line on Monday in Dallas, and returned to the fourth line with Chris Tierney and Micheal Haley for Tuesday's tilt in Minnesota. He is scoreless with two shots on goal over those two games.
He could be a temporary fill in for Jannik Hansen, who remains out with an upper body injury but could potentially return before the end of the road trip this weekend. Or, perhaps Meier does enough to stick around for the stretch run and the playoffs. There would seem to be an opportunity to push someone else out of the lineup, as the Sharks' depth scoring has been a season-long problem.
"It's a great opportunity for me, getting that chance again later on in the season," Meier said. "I want to put it all on the ice, leave it all out there and just make the best out of every shift I get. Play my game, play within my strengths, [do] the things that got me here, and I'm sure I'll be successful like that."
