New Jet looking forward to ‘special’ debut

Dawson Mercer is doing his best to get acclimated as quickly as possible.

After spending his first five NHL seasons and change with the New Jersey Devils, Mercer was informed on Friday morning that he was on his way to the Winnipeg Jets as part of a blockbuster deal for goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

That led to a mad scramble, as Mercer loaded up a suitcase with his belongings, jumped on a private jet with goalie Nico Daws and landed in the Manitoba capital on Friday night.

“Pretty busy and hectic. Pretty much, I was at the rink in Jersey, and then got the news,” said Mercer, who was the 18th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. “Then, you go home, pack everything up, get on the jet, and then come here and come into a big game here at this classic. It’s pretty special, though. I’d rather do it this way than any other.”

Mercer is set to make his Jets’ debut on Sunday night against the Montreal Canadiens in the Heritage Classic.

“Especially when you’re switching teams, you have a bit of jitters, and this is just going to add to it,” said Mercer. “But it’s going to be a fun time. I’m going to have family in town, so that’ll be exciting and definitely more of a welcoming event.”

During his first practice with his new team, Mercer skated on the Jets third line with Adam Lowry and Isak Rosen and he’s expected to help provide a boost to the secondary scoring the Jets are seeking.

“The way I play the game, I like to play fast, I like to play direct, with a lot of speed,” said Mercer. “I’m just listening to how they view me and how they want me to play, and definitely (will try to) implement that into the lineup here.”

Jets head coach Scott Arniel made a few calls to coaches he knows around the league and there was a common theme that bubbled to the surface in those discussions.

”The same thing that came from everybody is ‘you’re gonna love this kid,’” said Arniel. “Versatile in the sense of playing right wing and centre, kills penalties, plays power play, and is a 20-goal scorer. He does a lot of those little detail things.

“I heard from a lot of coaches that he’s a glue guy. So when you hear that as a coach, it’s always, in my opinion, a real nice compliment for a player. He’s excited for a new start. I think whenever you play for one organization, and you get your second chance, it’s a different feeling.”

Mercer has scored 20 goals three times in his career, with 19 and 17 in the two others, but he’s been limited to no goals and four assists in 10 games with the Devils this season and conceded he’d like to start producing a bit more.

“You mentioned about trying to get scoring, so I’d like to kind of get my game going on that note,” said Mercer. “To more of what I’ve proven in the past, and it’s definitely something that I’m going to be focusing on here with the new team.”

The Jets defence corps has a different look as well, with Elias Salomonsson recalled after suiting up in a pair of games with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.

Salomonsson is scheduled to make his season debut with the Jets on Sunday, skating on the second pairing with Mario Ferraro.

“You guys know, we saw a lot of his skill set last year when he came up,” said Arniel. “Then he got hurt in those playoff games, but he’s a big piece of our future. We’ve got a few young guys here now and he’s a guy that has a skill-set we can use right now with Josh (Morrissey) out. We’re going to throw him in there, on the second power play unit, he’s gonna get some PK moments. That’s a guy who’s missed an awful lot of hockey. He got two games in the American League. Hopefully he comes in, feels good and is ready to go, because we need him.”

Arniel mentioned Mercer’s familiarity with Lowry from playing together for Team Canada at the IIHF men’s world hockey championship as one of the reasons they will start out on a line.

The Jets blue line did take a hit to its depth on Saturday as Jack St. Ivany was claimed off waivers by the Washington Capitals.

Acquired in an off-season trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins for forward David Gustafsson, St. Ivany had no points in four games with the Jets.

The addition of Daws gives the Jets three capable NHL netminders, though it’s unclear what the depth chart will look like during the coming days.

At least for the time being, Daws and Stevenson will be competing for playing time behind Stuart Skinner – who gets the start on Sunday against the Canadiens.

Daws, chosen by the Devils in the third round 84th overall of the 2020 NHL Draft, has 59 games on his NHL resume, including a 26-26-1 record, a 2.97 goals-against average and .897 save percentage.

“Obviously shocked, but really excited, obviously, to be back in Canada. It’s exciting for me,” said Daws, who spent three seasons with the Guelph Storm in the Ontario Hockey League. “Yeah. I don’t know exactly what to expect. Obviously, it’s the first day here and I’m trying to get my feet settled and what not. And, obviously, I’m really, really confident in my game, and just try to help the team however I can.”

Daws has followed a similar path to Stevenson, though he has a bit more NHL experience.

“Just grinding between the AHL. I had quite a few call-ups,” said Daws. “Just trying to get an opportunity to stick in the NHL. To start the year up there was really exciting for me, and then you get traded.

“So, we’ll see what happens here. But, like I said, I’ve been building my game over the last five years. The stints I had in the NHL, you learn a lot. Hard lessons to learn and some good lessons.”

Making the transition with a teammate eases the process of being traded for the first time.

“Yeah, for sure. Obviously, I’ve known Merc for five or six years now,” said Daws. “We’re in the same draft. We roomed together, our first training camp together. We played world junior together, too. There’s definitely familiarity there. And, yeah, it makes it a lot easier having somebody with you.”

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