For the last few weeks, some New Jersey Devils players had the honor of participating at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships. They made quite some noise: Timo Meier, Jonas Siegenthaler and Nico Hischier (Switzerland) won silver. Jacob Markström (Sweden) won bronze. Prospect Lenni Hameenaho (Finland) was the only Devil to not medal, but he still performed well.
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Timo Meier (11 GP: 3G, 7A, +11)
Timo Meier was excellent in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and carried that right over to Europe. He used his size and grit to dominate the pace of play, get under the opponents’ skin and consistently chip in offensively. Out of 362 players to skate in the tournament, he was 18th in points and third in plus-minus. Meier should feel very happy with where his game is at currently.
Oh the snipe from Timo! #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/p7PWF0WNcp
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) May 18, 2025
Jonas Siegenthaler (9 GP: 1G, 3A, +6)
Some were surprised that Jonas Siegenthaler played in the tournament at all, after getting rushed back from injury out of necessity for the Devils. But he looked like himself as a physical, stifling defensive presence. As per usual, he also took a little bit more of an offensive role as arguably Switzerland’s top defenseman. Unfortunately, Siegenthaler missed blocking Tage Thompson’s overtime winner in the gold medal game by a fraction of an inch.
Nico Hischier (4 GP: 2G, 1A, +3)
Nico Hischier’s tournament was cut short as he suffered a lower body injury against Germany. Nonetheless, he still received a silver medal and was a valuable part of the Swiss’ preliminary round 3-0 win against Team USA, which gave them a more favorable path to the final. In addition to always being offensively involved, he went 56.9% in the faceoff circle – something Devils fans are very accustomed to.
Captain Nico Hischier lights the lamp for @SwissIceHockey! 🇨ðŸ‡ðŸ”¥ #MensWorlds #IIHF pic.twitter.com/00PMaglHCS
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 10, 2025
Jacob Markström (4-2-0, 2.14 GAA, .894 SV%)
For goaltenders especially, it’s extremely tough to judge based on such a small sample of games. Through three games, Jacob Markström was incredible: 3-0-0 with a 0.33 goals against average (GAA) and .977 save percentage (SV%). But against Canada in the prelims and the U.S. in the semis, the Swedish defense largely left him out to dry. He let in a couple he would want back, but more than made up for it with a multitude of Grade-A stops. Based on the eye test, the final numbers don’t really do him justice. He was pretty good for the most part.
Oh my! Marky! Massive stop of Gauthier! #NJDevils
pic.twitter.com/tlmtLNORot— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) May 24, 2025
Lenni Hämeenaho (8 GP: 1G, 3A, +2)
Just the sole fact that 20-year-old Devils’ prospect Lenni Hämeenaho was even named to Finland’s roster is impressive. After being almost a point-per-game in the Finnish Liiga, he didn’t look out of place against NHL talent despite taking on a bottom-six role. There’s never really been a question that he can shoot, but his passing ability and improved skating speed really stood out at Worlds. The Devils signed him to an entry-level contract on May 8th; fans should be pretty excited to see how he develops in North America.
Lenni Hameenaho chases Pintaric and makes it 5-1. #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/7I8WA8iEJY
— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) May 15, 2025
Looking Ahead
With Worlds now over, there are some other important dates to look out for during the offseason. The NHL Draft begins on Jun. 27, but the Devils won’t pick until the 28th as they are without a first round selection. Team development camp should shortly follow that, while free agency gets underway on Jul. 1.
