Confirmed with Link: Wild sign D Jon Merrill (1 year, $850k)

[Puhis]

Elite Prospects

Not a Penguin! Also, an actual NHL player!

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[2Pair]

There's no way he's as nice a guy as my buddy Mike

 

[Bazeek]

I like this one better than the Kulikov one.

 

[Puhis]

Sounds like a useful signing for some injury depth or taking the occasional tough match-up in 3rd pair. I like it, especially at the price.

Here is what The Athletic on their article NHL free agency: The 10 best players still available on the market had to say about Merrill:

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

Not a bad add. I would have rather rolled the dice with Mennell on this same deal, but it does put it into perspective what a legit sort of bottom pairing or even slightly better d man can be worth if they have a season of inconsistency.

 

[57special]

Top 10 Dman Greg Pateryn... I know, i know, at 850K it's hard to complain.

Sounds like a useful signing for some injury depth or taking the occasional tough match-up in 3rd pair. I like it, especially at the price.

Here is what The Athletic on their article NHL free agency: The 10 best players still available on the market had to say about Merrill:

 

[nickschultzfan]

Fair deal. Interested to see how Evason does the pairings.

 

[Puhis]

Fair deal. Interested to see how Evason does the pairings.

I'm guessing:

Brodin - Dumba
Goligoski - Spurgeon
Kulikov - Addison

Then, vs. tougher teams like Colorado:

Brodin-Dumba
Goligoski-Spurgeon
Kulikov - Merrill

That's just my hunch. Of course, here's hoping Addison forces himself into our top-6 permanently and we can alter Kulikov/Merrill as his D-partner. Alternatively, there's also the option of playing Merrill with Spurgeon to bring a defensive-minded big body into the mix, which would leave Goligoski with young pup Addison to serve as his mentor. But, the above is how I reckon they'll go into the season, given things stay as they are.

 

[123TripleDoge]

 

[Bonin21]

Okay but what about the forward unit...

 

[keppel146]

Love the price

 

[thestonedkoala]

All the Wings belong to us - is that a good thing?

 

[Minnesota]

6’3”!

 

[thestonedkoala]

6’3”!

There's our size!

 

[Mickey the mouse]

1st good signing from BG

Not as mobile as Soucy but very serviceable

 

[GordieGallant]

I'm guessing:

Brodin - Dumba
Goligoski - Spurgeon
Kulikov - Addison

Then, vs. tougher teams like Colorado:

Brodin-Dumba
Goligoski-Spurgeon
Kulikov - Merrill

That's just my hunch. Of course, here's hoping Addison forces himself into our top-6 permanently and we can alter Kulikov/Merrill as his D-partner. Alternatively, there's also the option of playing Merrill with Spurgeon to bring a defensive-minded big body into the mix, which would leave Goligoski with young pup Addison to serve as his mentor. But, the above is how I reckon they'll go into the season, given things stay as they are.

It will be Brodin and Dumba. Goligowski and Spurgeon, and Merrill and Kulikov. Addison will have to play his way into the lineup. All in all I think BBB did a decent job in free agency.

 

[2Pair]

1st good signing from BG

Not as mobile as Soucy but very serviceable

I think all 3 defenseman are good signing considering what Billy gave himself to work with. Goligoski is a pretty bad overpay but it's only for a year, and if it's true that it was done to bring the cost down, then that might be the first really intelligent move made by ol' big balls.

 

[BagHead]

Top 10 Dman Greg Pateryn... I know, i know, at 850K it's hard to complain.

No, it's a good point. Merrill and Pateryn being on the list really helps illustrate the primary issue with /60 stats. That is, that they favor people who do well in limited roles. Give Merrill or Pateryn the Brodin minutes, and I highly doubt they show up on that list anymore.

Anyway, I've never been a huge fan of Jon Merrill, but that's largely because I felt he never lived up to what I expected before he was drafted. At this current price, it's very hard to complain about him, as he's definitely at least an NHL defenseman, and I was getting just a tad bit worried that we wouldn't be able to find three of those in free agency.

 

[Lapa]

Good signing. Now get another center.

 

[57special]

Merrill and Kulikov should be ok as long as they stay in their lanes and don't try to do too much. We've got PMD's. We need guys who can defend who have a bit of heft to them. I am hopeful that Gaudreau, Sturm, and JEE will be solid as C's who can defend, which should help our D out.

If a guy like Addison or Mermis plays so well that they grab a job from one of these guys, no harm done.

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

I think this was the best FA signing by BBB and is a tremendous value. Surprised he didn’t have more suitors.

Also, 99% of my takeaway from this thread is that Brodin is even better than I thought due to that metric/graph that @Puhis posted.

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

No, it's a good point. Merrill and Pateryn being on the list really helps illustrate the primary issue with /60 stats. That is, that they favor people who do well in limited roles. Give Merrill or Pateryn the Brodin minutes, and I highly doubt they show up on that list anymore.

Anyway, I've never been a huge fan of Jon Merrill, but that's largely because I felt he never lived up to what I expected before he was drafted. At this current price, it's very hard to complain about him, as he's definitely at least an NHL defenseman, and I was getting just a tad bit worried that we wouldn't be able to find three of those in free agency.

The lead into graphic in The Athletic article says that those metrics are over the course of the last 3 seasons where and only include defensemen with greater than 1500 total minutes. Although I think your point still stands, I was surprised to see this.

 

[BagHead]

The lead into graphic in The Athletic article says that those metrics are over the course of the last 3 seasons where and only include defensemen with greater than 1500 total minutes. Although I think your point still stands, I was surprised to see this.

This is a good point. It makes me wonder how Merrill was used the two season prior to this last one. Was he getting a good amount of minutes as a #5-6, or did he have one really big season in there somewhere? 1500 minutes over 3 seasons basically just means "full time NHL defenseman". For reference, Pateryn picked up 1370 of those 1500 minutes in 18-19, when he was getting 17 minutes per game on our third pairing.

Ok, I decided to just look rather than wonder:

Looking at Merrill, it appears he did have a really nice season for Vegas that first year (of the last 3), but it apparently also saw his least, and easiest, usage per game. Also worth noting, he saw the largest majority of his playtime in that one good season, as it was his last "full" season. I put quotes around that, because he only played 57 games, but it wasn't COVID shortened. As his play-time per game has gone up, and his usage has gotten more difficult, he appears to have played significantly worse by both traditional stats and advanced analytics. I think both of these guys, Pateryn and Merrill, are being buoyed by a single good season.

I also came to the conclusion that a half-time 3rd pairing defender could make it to 1500 minutes over three healthy seasons, but it'd be close.

 

[57special]

Also, 99% of my takeaway from this thread is that Brodin is even better than I thought [/USER] posted.

Can't get my head around this being possible, or you using any digit but a 5, let alone two.