What’s Timo Meier’s Elite Skill?

How good can Timo Meier be?

That question, maybe above all others, might determine the course of the San Jose Sharks over the next few years. Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Logan Couture are on the wrong side of 30. Evander Kane is 29 and Tomas Hertl is 27 — they’re terrific players, but not likely to get much better. The San Jose system doesn’t have any prospects who are likely to make an immediate high-end impact.

Right now, the 24-year-old Swiss winger is the Sharks’ best chance to develop a genuine star.

The Locked On Sharks guys tackled it earlier today:

Can Timo Meier Become a Superstar?

“Superstar”, of course, is a loaded word. After all, you can argue, in terms of notoriety and productivity, there are just a handful of superstars in the NHL right now.

So is the question, can Meier be a Sidney Crosby or a Connor McDavid? Of course not.

Let’s take the rhetoric down a notch, to something more realistic for Meier and San Jose: Can Meier be a franchise player?

In one respect, Meier already is.