The New Jersey Devils had to be happy with what they saw from Nicholas Merkley in his handful of games that he played with them in 2020. He came over to the Devils with Kevin Bahl, Nate Schnarr, and a 1st-round pick in the trade that sent Taylor Hall to the Arizona Coyotes. It was a trade that seemed necessary for New Jersey to make at the time. It wasn’t fun watching a Hart Trophy winner go but with his looming free agency, it had to be done.
Kevin Bahl was the main piece coming back to New Jersey besides the first-round pick but Nick Merkley could be a very good middle-six winger for the Devils.