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

[OrrNumber4]

so he doesn't actually seem that bad defensively at the NHL level?

can get caught puck watching but he's been competitive and has a good stick.

He's never going to be a player who's going to move the needle defensively, and he's not getting opportunities offensively. What team in the NHL is going to have 3 offensive defensemen on it?

 

[hohosaregood]

so he doesn't actually seem that bad defensively at the NHL level?

can get caught puck watching but he's been competitive and has a good stick.

his defensive awareness and effort has improved a lot compared to when he was drafted that's for sure. his puck skills are going to be his bread and butter defensively since he can get the puck out of the zone really quickly once he gets the puck. physical game is still a work in progress.

 

[Juxtaposer]

so he doesn't actually seem that bad defensively at the NHL level?

can get caught puck watching but he's been competitive and has a good stick.

He’s never going to be a shut down defender but he’s absolutely 100% a legitimate NHLer at 21 years old with plus-plus offensive talent. One of those guys who, given the right linemates (I’m thinking of a soft-minutes offensive third line a la 2019 Sorensen-Thornton-Labanc), would simply never leave the offensive zone, making his defensive short-comings relatively moot.

He's never going to be a player who's going to move the needle defensively, and he's not getting opportunities offensively. What team in the NHL is going to have 3 offensive defensemen on it?

Burns isn’t going to be here forever. But besides, he’s doing quite well for the situation he’s in right now.

 

[Stewie Griffin]

I was very impressed with him yesterday. It'll be hard for him to get more ice/PP time behind the big-2 RHD on the sharks, but here's to hoping.

 

[bigdog16]

Seravalli reporting that Merkley has requested a trade. Any takers?

Whats the latest on him? Did he straighten the attitude issue out?

 

[Cas]

Seravalli reporting that Merkley has requested a trade. Any takers?

Whats the latest on him? Did he straighten the attitude issue out?

I don't think he's had a visible attitude issue since being drafted.

It's possible he's unhappy that he got buried by four years of Matt Benning.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Seravalli reporting that Merkley has requested a trade. Any takers?

Whats the latest on him? Did he straighten the attitude issue out?

I would actually be interested in someone like Merkley on the Kraken. We need more offensive D-men and I always felt that Merkley got the short-end of the stick from a lot of fans. Like others have said, he is never going to be a defensive stalwart but his vision is good enough to be on the 2nd unit PP.

 

[hohosaregood]

Seravalli reporting that Merkley has requested a trade. Any takers?

Whats the latest on him? Did he straighten the attitude issue out?

Kinda, he's not a jerk or anything but he doesn't put a whole ton of effort out on the ice. He just doesn't think the game at a very high level. Excellent finesse with the puck and with his passing but he's slow to commit to his decisions and he plays a low tempo game. He also doesn't shoot much so he can make these pseudo-Karlsson dekes in the offensive zone but then he doesn't really do anything after making that space and just dekes himself into a corner.

Probably best case scenario in the NHL is as a 3rd pairing puck mover. Not even sure he'd be a PP regular. I think he'd have a lot of success on the big ice where he has more time and space.

 

[Frosty415]

Meh he's been a letdown for me

 

[Tryamkin]

Very talented player. He doesn’t work hard enough on the defensive side of the ice and teams don’t have room for defensive liabilities. Definitely still has potential to be a middle pairing PP guy, but he needs to work hard because the lack of success at the pro level is more to do with his play and consistency than it is to do with the location. He will find it harder to break into 20+ other blue lines for sure as it is now.

 

[MMC]

 

[Johnny Danger]

Merkley seems to be back on track. At least in the KHL with Kulun. As his contracts ends in summer, do you think there might be interest from NHL teams to sign him? Or will Merkley be staying in russia after all the struggling in NA?

 

[voxel]

Merkley seems to be back on track. At least in the KHL with Kulun. As his contracts ends in summer, do you think there might be interest from NHL teams to sign him? Or will Merkley be staying in russia after all the struggling in NA?

If he was drafted in the 7th round, would anybody be talking about Merkley? He was pretty horrid in the AHL when I first saw him - then had a okay next year where he looked like he vastly improved - but seemed to regress back to his old "what is defense" self. He was nothing special offensively in the AHL either.

 

[bigdog16]

If he was drafted in the 7th round, would anybody be talking about Merkley? He was pretty horrid in the AHL when I first saw him - then had a okay next year where he looked like he vastly improved - but seemed to regress back to his old "what is defense" self. He was nothing special offensively in the AHL either.

Thought he could turn into a Tony DeAngelo type. But his offensive play doesn’t make up for his lack of defense enough to merit an NHL spot