Meier out to prove he can skate with the best

Thursday, 01.22.2015 / 2:41 PM

By Mike G. Morreale - NHL.com Staff Writer / 2015 NHL Draft blog

Share with your Friends


2015 NHL Draft blog
Meier out to prove he can skate with the best

ST. CATHARINES, Ontario -- Halifax Mooseheads forward Timo Meier has had the pleasure of competing alongside many of the finest junior-age players in the world this season.

That string will continue Thursday when he plays left wing on a line with Erie Otters center Connor McDavid for Team Bobby Orr at the 2015 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game at Meridian Centre (7 p.m. ET, NHLN-US, SN, TVA Sports).

Meier skated on a line with Nashville Predators 2014 first-round pick (No. 11) Kevin Fiala with Switzerland at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship and he usually skates with Winnipeg Jets 2014 first-round pick (No. 9) Nikolaj Ehlers on the top line for the Mooseheads in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

"Fiala and Ehlers are two great players," Meier said. "They both have really good skill and are really fast. Watching them on the ice taught me how to be a professional; I look up to them, especially those skills that they have on the ice."

Meier had two goals, six points and a plus-2 rating in six games alongside Fiala for Switzerland, which finished ninth at the WJC. The 6-foot, 209-pound left-shot forward leads Halifax with 25 goals and a plus-16 rating; he also has 56 points. He is on a 13-game point streak for the Mooseheads.

"The World Juniors was a great expedience; it was a fast game and really intense," Meier said. "There were a lot of good players playing for those big countries and it was great. You have to be fast and on the ice be thinking ahead about the game to keep up with the pace. I took a lot from that."

Meier, who is fluent in four languages (Swiss, French, English and German), is No. 12 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of the top North American skaters eligible for the 2015 NHL Draft. He hopes to make a good impression at the Top Prospects Game.

"I think I'm a big body and like to use my size," he said. "I like to play physical and put pucks on net and I have a good shot."

---