jon merill

[Brooklyndevil]

I love Jon Merrill and he's one of the few non-Sharks prospects I follow and hope to see succeed in the NHL some day.

California boy if I'm not mistaken?

 

[member 30781]

California boy if I'm not mistaken?

You're mistaken. He's from Chicago.

 

[HockeyGuy1975]

From somewhat limited viewings, I'd rank them Forbort, Merrill, Faulk.

I would rank them in the reverse. At this point, Faulk is definitely the most polished. But the other two have size advatages on their side, which also might account for a slower development. Merrill is a great skater, but I'm not sold.

 

[HockeyGuy1975]

You're mistaken. He's from Chicago.

Actually, I believe he is born and raised in Michigan. He came out of the Little Ceasars program if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

Actually, I believe he is born and raised in Michigan. He came out of the Little Ceasars program if I'm not mistaken.

You are correct, Brighton, MI. For some reason I thought he was from California and was a surfer dude. Must have been someone else.

 

[17Kurri]

I would rank them in the reverse. At this point, Faulk is definitely the most polished. But the other two have size advatages on their side, which also might account for a slower development. Merrill is a great skater, but I'm not sold.

Interesting. Just goes to show how different people can see things differently. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[SDig14]

have to agree.

sometimes the draft interviewing process is flawed and here is such a case.

so what if the kid didnt answer certain questions the way many would have liked, I think he is a kid with a lot of heart and certainly a kid with a ton of talent.

he said he wouldnt be able to get up for games in the CHL as he would for Michigan (that is not exact but pretty much the jist), and people got all bent out of shape for it. his dream was to be a Wolverine and he had no desire to play in the CHL. Now some teams are really looking foolish, because Merrill as it stands should not have fallen out of the top 20.

one of my favorite players, I hope he continues to shine and make the Devils look like geniuses again with Parise version 2.0 (drafted lower then where he should have gone).

Keep in mind he was suspended from the USNTDP for alleged sexual harrasment at his high school, to which he admitted to making said mistake, and many teams could have been shying away with a first round pick because of that combined with his interviews.

Once he dropped out of the first round I knew it would be a very short wait for him on day 2. He was clearly a 1st round talent that fell a bit and one team was going to be lucky to get him in the 2nd round. Good for the devils, definitely need a kid like that.

Potential character issues are always worrisome, but these are such young kids that mistakes are to be expected, and it's clear the Devils couldn't look away from his talent and I'm sure were quite sure he would mature just fine.