One of the San Jose Sharks top prospects, Timo Meier has been missing from practice this week with what the team was describing as an illness. On Friday, Meier returned to the ice and the team clarified his status. Meier is suffering from mononucleosis, and is expected to miss at least the next four weeks.
“Timo Meier is expected to be unable to play in any NHL or AHL games for approximately four weeks after being diagnosed with mononucleosis,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement released via the team’s official website. “He will remain in the Bay Area where he can skate and train as his recovery allows.”
Timo Meier Out With Mononucleosis
Meier, who turns 20 on October 8th, was the Sharks first round pick (9th overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Coming into training camp, many analysts believed that he had a good chance of making the Sharks roster out of camp. It now looks that he will spend the early part of the season on injured reserve. Once healthy, the Sharks will have to choose between keeping him in NHL and shipping him to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda.
Meier’s illness opens a spot on the Sharks season opening day roster. Prospects competing for the position include Barclay Goodrow, Marcus Sorensen, Nikolay Goldobin, Kevin Labanc, and Ryan Carpenter.
Meier’s Ability
Our off-season Top Shelf Prospect Series had this to describe Meier’s offensive game:
“Timo Meier has great hockey sense and gets to the open areas of the ice. He sets up to finish chances with an excellent shot and release. He has a very good arsenal of shots. Meier has an excellent snap shot, strong wrist shot, and very good one-timer. He can be very effective off the half-boards on the power play.
Meier is also a very physical player, establishing his position in the slot and winning board battles to create offence. He has the good hand-eye co-ordination to tip in pucks and pounce on rebounds. He gets in quickly on the forecheck and can punish opposing defencemen with hits behind the net. Meier also has good vision and passing skills, and the smarts to make a good pass when he is working the cycle. He has some finesse in his game with good stickhandling skills, and the ability to finish plays in tight.”
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