Confirmed with Link: Merrill extended 3years 1.2 AAV

[f7ben]

No idea what to think of this. He’s going to be here for a while though.

Click to read more...

 

[DeagleJenkins]

No idea what to think of this. He’s going to be here for a while though.

kulikov and meril back next year for sure then. goose is a maybe. i want to say ew to this but i have not been completely disgusted by his play, just never wowed either.

 

[MuckOG]

Weird.

 

[Bazeek]

I've liked Merrill okay, but the term surprises me.

 

[Victorious Secret]

Okay.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Yeah I don't know.

 

[Wasted Talent]

I imagine Guerin wanted to save himself the headache of finding cheap depth D for the final year of dead cap.

Not sure if I agree, but I see the logic.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

$1.2M is a little more than I'd hoped we'd be paying our 7th D next year when Addison jumps into the lineup.

But maybe this is Goligoski not really wanting to follow through on the "arrangement" anymore (if there ever was one) now that he's going along at a 50+ point clip.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

$1.2M is a little more than I'd hoped we'd be paying our 7th D next year when Addison jumps into the lineup.

But maybe this is Goligoski not really wanting to follow through on the "arrangement" anymore (if there ever was one) now that he's going along at a 50+ point clip.

id be ok with it, as then kulikov can be elevated and merill at 1.2m on 3rd pair next to addison is not tragic.

 

[Circulartheory]

$1.2M is a little more than I'd hoped we'd be paying our 7th D next year when Addison jumps into the lineup.

But maybe this is Goligoski not really wanting to follow through on the "arrangement" anymore (if there ever was one) now that he's going along at a 50+ point clip.

I am very lukewarm on Merrill to be nicely put but the bolded part is definitely where I see the benefit of locking a cost effective player at 1.2mil especially in our dead cap situation.

Its harder than some think to find really solid bottom pairing guys at cost efficient rates or you'll just end up with Jordie Benn as your #5 (he's paid 900k so pretty close)

 

[zellmatic]

Nice to lock Merrill in on a very reasonable deal.

 

[57special]

Well, he's got decent size, isn't a bad skater, and has contributed offensively. What I noticed right away about him is that he made panicky decisions that reeked of underconfidence. It could be that staying long term on a team that is known for it's two way play might help him regain some confidence, so that he will be a decent 3rd pairing dman.
Should players like Hunt, Addison, and ROR be banging down the door sooner than later he should be relatively easy to trade at that cap number. I think Guerin has taken note of the two recent games against some vg offensive teams where they only let in two goals, despite not having three of their top 4 Dmen.
Not a sexy signing, for sure. Maybe a bit of insurance if Goligoski decides to play hardball in negotiations, but I don't see that happening, TBH.

 

[Olcoach]

Okay.

Nope.

 

[Minnewildsota]

YES!
WE GOT HIM!

 

[f7ben]

Hopefully goose is traded for a high 2nd at the tdl

 

[f7ben]

I actually don’t hate Merrill and he appears to be a great guy and probably well liked. Hopefully he keeps working on his game and this looks like a good move in a year.

Kulikov can stay as well if his price is reasonable.

Benn and Goligoski can move on

 

[BagHead]

The term surprises me almost as much as Merrill has. I was not a fan of his signing (just because I wasn't a fan of his), but he's been mostly ok. I hope he keeps that up!

 

[TaLoN]

sure... whatever.

 

[ThatGuy22]

Never a fan of term to 4th liners and third pairing types.

But I've been wrong before (Foligno, twice probably).

End of the day, it's the bind Guerin has put himself in with the buyouts. Looking up depth cheaper for term.

 

[MK9]

 

[Lapa]

Term is a year longer than expected, but okay

 

[nickschultzfan]

This is a more a statement about the cap and
Iowa's blueline then anything. Little bottom pairing help is coming for 2-3 years.

 

[57special]

sure... whatever.

ringing endorsement

 

[57special]

This is a more a statement about the cap and
Iowa's blueline then anything. Little bottom pairing help is coming for 2-3 years.

Yeah, Iowa's dmen look pretty pedestrian, but who knows? Soucy looked like nothing special, then developed. I think the idea is to get through till the nice D prospects start to come in a couple few years from now.

 

[BagHead]

ringing endorsement

I mean, it's largely how I feel about it, too. He hasn't been bad, nor particularly good. So this is... fine.