RD Ryan Merkley - Kunlun, KHL (2018, 21st, SJS; traded to COL, released) Part II

Isaac Nootin

Registered User
Sep 28, 2017
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From the London OHL thread.

"Man, are the Hunters ever going to have their work cut out for them getting Merks to play D?! He looks like he has very little interest in doing so and was usually the last man back into the D Zone last night. This could be fun to watch! Can we teach an old dog new tricks? I do love his offensive ability though and think it was a great gamble based on what it cost us!"

Many London fans happy with what he brought offensively and to the PP, but old problems/issues remain. Probably the best landing spot for him, tbh.
 

TheBeastCoast

Registered User
Mar 23, 2011
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I mean the issues Merkley has had post draft are mostly the same issues he had pre-draft. The Sharks picked him with their eyes wide open, I am sure they knew it wasn't going to be smooth sailing through the rest of his junior career. I have my doubts whether he will figure it out in the long run but that is kind of besides the point.
 

SabresSharks

Registered User
Oct 2, 2007
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Things worked out as well as could possibly be expected for Merkley, landing in London. If Hunter can remove most of the "me" from his game, and inject a lot more "team" into it, I think the Sharks will have a gem in a couple of years.

If.
 

Hockey Stick

Registered User
Jan 3, 2018
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Lol at this thread dying after all the trash people were spewing

hes having a pretty decent season in London, finally gonna get to see him live tonight
He's fun to watch live. Can look like an absolute wizard with the puck. I don't think a lot of the stuff (that I've read at least) has been trash or made-up bs. I don't think it's just a fluke that two teams got rid of him and then proceeded to play great hockey. That stuff aside though, what he brings to the ice can make all of the difference in the games. Hoping his season stays productive, I'm very interested to see how many points he can end with if he stays consistent
 

Mach85

Registered User
Mar 14, 2013
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Lol at this thread dying after all the trash people were spewing

hes having a pretty decent season in London, finally gonna get to see him live tonight
Stay salty. What are we supposed to do, just keep repeating the same things? Nothing's changed as far as I know. Merkley continues to produce offensively and we'll see how things play out.
 

Mattb124

Registered User
Apr 29, 2011
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Stay salty. What are we supposed to do, just keep repeating the same things? Nothing's changed as far as I know. Merkley continues to produce offensively and we'll see how things play out.

Repeating the same things worked for the 1st 10 pages, so.....
 
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bsu

"I have no idea what I am doing" -Pat VerBleak
Sep 27, 2017
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Will have a very short NHL career if any. Bump this later.
 

newfy

Registered User
Jul 28, 2010
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if the rumors are true of players hating him...let me just say Brad Marchand was not liked by a lot of teammates with a lot of teams he played on.

I dont think this is true at all. Merkley has years of issues that have become known to the public before hes even done junior. I've never heard a bad thing about Marchand and actually know a player who played with him in Boston who said hes completely different off the ice and is a great guy.
 

Emerz

#1 PLD Fanboy
Jun 5, 2013
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I dont think this is true at all. Merkley has years of issues that have become known to the public before hes even done junior. I've never heard a bad thing about Marchand and actually know a player who played with him in Boston who said hes completely different off the ice and is a great guy.

Think he's talking about Marchand in junior vs Marchand in the NHL. In the NHL Marchand has always been well respected by his teammates.
 

newfy

Registered User
Jul 28, 2010
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Think he's talking about Marchand in junior vs Marchand in the NHL. In the NHL Marchand has always been well respected by his teammates.

Maybe but I dont remember this being a thing about him in junior at all either, and I doubt he went from hated teammate to respected in the NHL in a matter of 3 years. He wore a letter for team Canada at the world juniors as well, a player that was hated by his teammates wouldnt have that. Team Canada is too old school for that.

Theres never ben real talk about Marchand being hated by teammates except outside sources who think because he plays like he does that he must be a dick off the ice as well.
 

Breakfast of Champs

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Apr 15, 2007
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Maybe but I dont remember this being a thing about him in junior at all either, and I doubt he went from hated teammate to respected in the NHL in a matter of 3 years. He wore a letter for team Canada at the world juniors as well, a player that was hated by his teammates wouldnt have that. Team Canada is too old school for that.

Theres never ben real talk about Marchand being hated by teammates except outside sources who think because he plays like he does that he must be a dick off the ice as well.

He was literally a healthy scratch in a game 7 after the Mooseheads traded away their future for him....I even heard that team captain and good friend Bodnarchuk had gotten fed up with him at that point.
 

newfy

Registered User
Jul 28, 2010
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He was literally a healthy scratch in a game 7 after the Mooseheads traded away their future for him....I even heard that team captain and good friend Bodnarchuk had gotten fed up with him at that point.

Because he was playing like shit an the coach wanted to shake things up. It was a game 4 elimination game as well, not a game 7. If hes even close to the head case/teammate Merkley apparently is, no one is trading away their future for him in the first place and hes not making team Canada twice. Didthe team Captain not like him? Maybe not, but thats different then everyone basically coming out against Merkley. It also could just be that Marchand came in as a deadline acquisition and stole the spotlight. Not every guy is going to get along on every team, Merkley cant even get an invite to a Canada camp and teams put him as a do not draft.

Hes far away from Marchand and using them as comparables doesnt make sense at all
 

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