As was Liljegren this time last year.
time to send the mono soaked gift blankets to the merkley residence
As was Liljegren this time last year.
He might not even really have to drop. His stock is pretty rocky. HockeyProspect.Com who I would trust more than anyone on the OHL had him at 22 in their initial rankings for 2018 in the BlackBook. Hockey Canada also chose 3 other defencemen over him for the u-18 team in McIssac, Woo and Ty Smith.It's going to be hilarious when Ryan Merkley drops to us next season
It's going to be hilarious when Ryan Merkley drops to us next season
As just pointed out, he may have never actually been ahead of them. Especially Wilde. I know HockeyProspect had Wilde as the top pick in the 2016 OHL draft too.I already know it's going to happen. Guys like Wilde and Boqvist I predict will jump him as soon as September. The draft is deep as it is.
It's going to be hilarious when Ryan Merkley drops to us next season
As just pointed out, he may have never actually been ahead of them. Especially Wilde. I know HockeyProspect had Wilde as the top pick in the 2016 OHL draft too.
I know Pronman and the DraftAnalyst do. No one else really has a list out. I like Corey for his write-ups and how he incorporates some statistical analysis, but of all the lists I've seen I'd trust HP the most. It will be interesting to see how Bob and Craigs first official lists look. A lot will be changed by Hlinka though.Some lists I have seen him still ahead, which is what I'm basing this off of.
I know Pronman and the DraftAnalyst do. No one else really has a list out. I like Corey for his write-ups and how he incorporates some statistical analysis, but of all the lists I've seen I'd trust HP the most. It will be interesting to see how Bob and Craigs first official lists look. A lot will be changed by Hlinka though.
Really depends on who else is out there. I'm not sold on him. I personally think he's a really flawed but skilled player. I'd take a bunch of D ahead of him such as Dahlin, Ty Smith, Woo, Wilde, Samuelsson, Boqvist and McIssac.Then there are guys like Xavier Bouchard, Evan Bouchard, and Quinton Hughes, who you have to discuss around there.Would you agree with the Leafs taking him if they have the chance?
Really depends on who else is out there. I'm not sold on him. I personally think he's a really flawed but skilled player. I'd take a bunch of D ahead of him such as Dahlin, Ty Smith, Woo, Wilde, Samuelsson, Boqvist and McIssac.Then there are guys like Xavier Bouchard, Evan Bouchard, and Quinton Hughes, who you have to discuss around there.
I'll wait a year and see how our season plays out and how those guys play. Not too fixated on any one guy right now. I'd agree with Hunter and his staff because I respect their opinion if they decided to gamble on him, but I also wouldn't be pissed if we passed.
I also don't expect a great season for him, especially counting stat-wise (which may be good for him). Guelph's new coach is probably the most defensive guy in the league not named Stan Butler, and if Merkley tries to do some of the stuff he did this year he will lose minutes pretty quickly. If he shapes up and listens, it may be best for him long-term.
He absolutely has the talent to be a top 3 guy in this draft, but he there are a bunch of things in his profile which makes you wonder about him.
I find he gambles way too much when a simple play will be better, but a lot of that is due to playing for a terrible team and trying to do too much. I've heard rumblings of character concerns. The exact quote was "DeAngelo 2.0" which is never a good comparison to hear.I started following him late in 2016 and tried to catch some games when I could. The obvious things about him; skates like the wind, poised with the puck, great vision, particularly in the O-zone. One thing that was obvious to me, he uses his skating more than breaking out the puck with a pass. He'll have to simplify that at the NHL level. No doubt he'll be able to skate it out in the NHL too, but like every other player, he'll need to utilize the break out pass too. His inherent skating talent allows him to cut off gaps, but he leans WAY too much on his inherent speed and he gets caught out of position defensively a lot.
I find he gambles way too much when a simple play will be better, but a lot of that is due to playing for a terrible team and trying to do too much. I've heard rumblings of character concerns. The exact quote was "DeAngelo 2.0" which is never a good comparison to hear.
I really hope we shoot for a more complete player, than a player incredibly over-reliant on one trait like Merkley. Not a big fan of his after a few viewings last year. His defense is downright atrocious at times, and while being a gambler can often pay off for great skating offensive type D-men, I saw a whole lot of awful decision making when he chose to gamble.
I'm hoping to focus a little more on this year's draft class than I was able to this past year's. I still think the ideal pick would be a big, powerful forward. We could use a few, really. Big skilled forwards to play alongside Marner/Kadri would really round out our forward group nicely.
We can easily sign those types. You don't pass on Merkley's kind of talent if he's available.
Personally, i think you can easily pass on Merkley. He's a great skater, and has some good offense to him, but his size + lack of defensive acumen + questionable decision making are too much for me to overlook. I think it's easier to find small skilled players and sign them than it is to find the size + skill combo and sign them. Teams aquire big skilled guys by drafting them, otherwise they pay a king's ransom in a trade or on July 1st.
Merkley looks + sounds way too much like Ryan Murphy for my liking. DeAngelo comes to mind as well. Neither are very inspiring.
This is kinda ridiculous.
Murphy didn't come close to winning the OHL rookie of the year, which Merkley won, and was also 5'9 in his draft year. Merkley, last I saw, was 5'11.5, entering his draft year. Merkley is described by scouts to have "out of this world" vision. He constantly has "how the hell did he do that moments". (http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/article/ryan-merkley-and-the-ohl-drafts-biggest-question)
I wouldn't be shocked to see Merkley challenge Ryan Ellis' draft year numbers.
I would, considering who his coaches will be next year and who the forward talent on Guelph. Big difference between Hall, Niemz and Henrique and Ratcliffe, Givani Smith and Scharr. I'd be shocked if Burnett doesn't seriously reign his game in.This is kinda ridiculous.
Murphy didn't come close to winning the OHL rookie of the year, which Merkley won, and was also 5'9 in his draft year. Merkley, last I saw, was 5'11.5, entering his draft year. Merkley is described by scouts to have "out of this world" vision. He constantly has "how the hell did he do that moments". (http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/article/ryan-merkley-and-the-ohl-drafts-biggest-question)
I wouldn't be shocked to see Merkley challenge Ryan Ellis' draft year numbers.
I would, considering who his coaches will be next year and who the forward talent on Guelph. Big difference between Hall, Niemz and Henrique and Ratcliffe, Givani Smith and Scharr. I'd be shocked if Burnett doesn't seriously reign his game in.
We should be going pure BPA at this point in the first. Targeting certain needs when the chances of landing a long-term contributor in the range we expect to pick in is less than 50% dictates we should go with who we think has the best shot.
I wouldn't be disappointed if BPA was a center or 2-way defenseman
A forward with a bit of size/skill/grit wouldn't be a bad thing either from a team building perspective
I'm really not worried. The guys coming off the books in the next few years will be D (most notably Gardiner). We have offence in spades and this draft is deep at D. No problem with BPA being D.