Expansion Draft Leak thread.
- Thread starter BattleBorn
- Start date
Theodore is better than Sbisa and Stoner. Stoner was meh before he missed a whole year. He had a solid chance to make the team. Shea should be motivated by the chance to become one of the first Vegas stars.
He was definitely a great get for Vegas. At worst he's a third pair powerplay specialist but he's got the upside to be a #2-#3 two way guy in the vein of Cam Fowler. He just needs to put his defensive game together the way Fowler did.
Boris Zubov
No relation to Sergei, Joe
Better than Emelin too. Still wrapping my head around McPhee taking him.
Right. There's a very solid chance Theo makes the team. The key to the strength of this trade for Vegas is how the coaching staff develops him. The upside he's got is huge.
Devils list didn't have a ton of attractive options. Best of luck with Jon Merrill (if you end up keeping him).
Little bit of background on him: Seemed like a surefire first rounder in 2010 (Bob had him #22 on TSN's final list if I recall correctly). But there were reports of some off ice incidents which seemed to be a red flag for teams. Devils took him at #38 as a result.
Merrill's freshman year at Michigan was fantastic as the Wolverines lost in the NCAA championship game. Merrill's sophomore year got off to the wrong start as he got suspended for an unspecified off ice reason. He thought about defecting to the OHL (the nearby Plymouth Whalers), but opted to serve his suspension and was reinstated midseason. Rather than turn pro, he went back for his junior year and got hurt after being boarded in an exhibition game. Missed a good chunk of time. Unfortunately as a result his sophomore/junior years weren't ideal.
He turned pro and showed some promise in the AHL. He had a reasonable showing as an NHL rookie, but then he started to lose ice time as coaches tried to juggle him/Gelinas/Larsson. All three guys arguably suffered as a result. Injuries have also hurt his development over the past couple of years.
On the bright side, he's got decent size but isn't particularly physical. He can make a good first pass, but probably won't show the offensive promise that he did early on in college. Average point shot and not really one to jump up in the rush.
He arguably had his best stretch as a pro this past December when the Devils D was decimated with injury and they almost had no choice but to play Merrill. Didn't put up huge numbers, but in 13 games he put up 3 points, was +4, and averaged over 21 minutes. Plus/minus isn't the greatest stat, but on last year's Devils squad, being a plus player was an accomplishment.
Probably the most noticeable thing about Merrill is that he looks like he has an extra gear that he rarely engages. Thin line between being a smooth player and looking like you aren't giving 100%.
I became a de facto Michigan fan thanks to Brendan Morrison in the mid-90s. So I was pretty excited for Merrill. There might be some untapped potential left, but I kept telling myself that for the last four years.
Little bit of background on him: Seemed like a surefire first rounder in 2010 (Bob had him #22 on TSN's final list if I recall correctly). But there were reports of some off ice incidents which seemed to be a red flag for teams. Devils took him at #38 as a result.
Merrill's freshman year at Michigan was fantastic as the Wolverines lost in the NCAA championship game. Merrill's sophomore year got off to the wrong start as he got suspended for an unspecified off ice reason. He thought about defecting to the OHL (the nearby Plymouth Whalers), but opted to serve his suspension and was reinstated midseason. Rather than turn pro, he went back for his junior year and got hurt after being boarded in an exhibition game. Missed a good chunk of time. Unfortunately as a result his sophomore/junior years weren't ideal.
He turned pro and showed some promise in the AHL. He had a reasonable showing as an NHL rookie, but then he started to lose ice time as coaches tried to juggle him/Gelinas/Larsson. All three guys arguably suffered as a result. Injuries have also hurt his development over the past couple of years.
On the bright side, he's got decent size but isn't particularly physical. He can make a good first pass, but probably won't show the offensive promise that he did early on in college. Average point shot and not really one to jump up in the rush.
He arguably had his best stretch as a pro this past December when the Devils D was decimated with injury and they almost had no choice but to play Merrill. Didn't put up huge numbers, but in 13 games he put up 3 points, was +4, and averaged over 21 minutes. Plus/minus isn't the greatest stat, but on last year's Devils squad, being a plus player was an accomplishment.
Probably the most noticeable thing about Merrill is that he looks like he has an extra gear that he rarely engages. Thin line between being a smooth player and looking like you aren't giving 100%.
I became a de facto Michigan fan thanks to Brendan Morrison in the mid-90s. So I was pretty excited for Merrill. There might be some untapped potential left, but I kept telling myself that for the last four years.
CupInSIX
My cap runneth over
Better than Emelin too. Still wrapping my head around McPhee taking him.
Emelin is a solid bottom pairing stay at home D.
But he's probably getting flipped.
