Confirmed with Link: Sharks sign Ryan Merkley to ELC

[hohosaregood]

I think Merkley's ability to walk the blue line and how quickly he can make a breakout happen will get him to the NHL. What keeps him out of the NHL is his lack of strength and effort to fight for a puck in the defensive zone a la Goldobin.

 

[AgentCooper]

Obviously, because Vlasic is not a forward, and staying in a Holiday Inn the night before, he still couldn't be one.

Merkley super charges his offensive stats by becoming the 4th forward. This often leaves his corner up at the blue line undefended.

He gets away with it in the OHL, but this trait will be exposed in the NHL. Opponents will capitalize on this mistake. He'll be a worse Burns than Burns in terms of opponent breakaways.

If he reverts his play into a true defender, he'll look more like Mueller than Vlasic in the d-zone.

I'm sure the Sharks will give him a shot at being a defender, but they are very likely interested in him as a forward if that does not work out. It won't.

So the question becomes whether Merkley can be a serviceable forward in the NHL. I could not find any videos on him staking as one of the 3 forwards.

Whether he can make the transition from being the extra 4th forward on the ice, to a regular forward is the question. There's no question he has talent as a forward. So I predict he will be bottom six forward, might improve to straddle the line between the top and bottom six.

.................... what?

 

[PacificOceanPotion]

Merkley's gonna be a damn good defenseman.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Merkley as a defenseman scored at a higher pace than the forward who was drafted 5th overall...

 

[Boy Hedican]

Look guys, Merkley puts butter on his pizza.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Look guys, Merkley puts butter on his pizza.

And he ate it with a fork!

 

[Satastic]

And he ate it with a fork!

And his favorite pizza to eat with a fork and butter is Hawaiian

 

[Alwalys]

man. watched this kid's reel again and he's damn good. hope he puts it together to make a run at the NHL.

 

[Bowie22]

 

[Alwalys]

Some of that is Thorntonian.

 

[tiburon12]

Some of that is Thorntonian.

wonder what Merkley's 4 goal reveal will be

 

[seroes]

wonder what Merkley's 4 goal reveal will be

You mean when mcdavid beats him 4 times in his first game for 4 goals next season?

 

[Barrie22]

For dedensmen comparisons i still see burns in him.

Good hard shot, good puck control, a lil better 1st passer, good skater, good puck control to fend off defenders in the offensive zone.

In the defensive zone they are both roamers that rely on there instincts to make the plays they do make.

Burns is a little more physical in that he will throw his weight around every once in a while for those big butt checks of his. But outside of those he really isn't that physical for his size.

 

[Dicdonya]

For dedensmen comparisons i still see burns in him.

Good hard shot, good puck control, a lil better 1st passer, good skater, good puck control to fend off defenders in the offensive zone.

In the defensive zone they are both roamers that rely on there instincts to make the plays they do make.

Burns is a little more physical in that he will throw his weight around every once in a while for those big butt checks of his. But outside of those he really isn't that physical for his size.

To me he is exactly the opposite from Burns, I don't get how you see Burns in Merkley.

Merkley does not seem to posses a big shot. Most the times I have seen him score he looks like hes passing it in the net.

He does not recklessly charge up the ice, he is super super controlled at all times, exactly the opposite of Burns who is crazy unpredictable.

He seems to possess the Thornton shooting mentality of "well I guess if I have to...." whereas Burns fires everything and the kitchen sink on net.

And yeah, Burns is a hulking, physical Dman, whereas Merkley is a smallish nimble Dman that seems to do his best to not engage in physical battles whenever possible.

Burns is the Ovechkin of Dmen, Merkley is the Thornton of Dmen. One is a wrecking ball focused on getting pucks on net, the other tries to possess the puck until a sweet opening for a pass shows up.

I could be wrong, but outside of his potential to score points, and suspect defense, I see nothing of Burns in Merkley.

 

[Barrie22]

To me he is exactly the opposite from Burns, I don't get how you see Burns in Merkley.

Merkley does not seem to posses a big shot. Most the times I have seen him score he looks like hes passing it in the net.

He does not recklessly charge up the ice, he is super super controlled at all times, exactly the opposite of Burns who is crazy unpredictable.

He seems to possess the Thornton shooting mentality of "well I guess if I have to...." whereas Burns fires everything and the kitchen sink on net.

And yeah, Burns is a hulking, physical Dman, whereas Merkley is a smallish nimble Dman that seems to do his best to not engage in physical battles whenever possible.

Burns is the Ovechkin of Dmen, Merkley is the Thornton of Dmen. One is a wrecking ball focused on getting pucks on net, the other tries to possess the puck until a sweet opening for a pass shows up.

I could be wrong, but outside of his potential to score points, and suspect defense, I see nothing of Burns in Merkley.

For a big hulking physical defensmen burns does not hit that much.

79 hits in 82 games is burns being a p***y cat.

 

[Maladroit]

Yeah Merkley is the polar opposite of Burns. Burns makes his living off his booming point shot. Burns is as dumb a player on the ice as you'll find at that level and is incapable of consistently making tape-to-tape outlet passes. Merkley has a muffin of a shot but his hockey IQ (at least when it comes to the breakout and on offense) is elite and his passing ability is out of this world. Kris Letang/Dan Boyle are the best comparables if he reaches his full potential. I think Merkley has compared himself to Letang before. I see some Tyson Barrie in him too.

 

[Dicdonya]

For a big hulking physical defensmen burns does not hit that much.

79 hits in 82 games is burns being a ***** cat.

Hits are not only completely subjective, and get credited differently in every arean, but they also are not the only way to be physical. I don't consider Burns to be the next coming of Douglas Murray, but there is no doubt he uses his body to create space, or defend, just as much or more than using his stick.

Merkley very noticeably avoids using his body to make space/plays, and instead attempts to use only his stick, either defensively, or to pass/create space in the offensive zone. Also, Burns absolutely used to hit more, recently hes been less willing to throw his body around, I assume in an attempt to stay healthier.

 

[seroes]

Hits are not only completely subjective, and get credited differently in every arean, but they also are not the only way to be physical. I don't consider Burns to be the next coming of Douglas Murray, but there is no doubt he uses his body to create space, or defend, just as much or more than using his stick.

Merkley very noticeably avoids using his body to make space/plays, and instead attempts to use only his stick, either defensively, or to pass/create space in the offensive zone. Also, Burns absolutely used to hit more, recently hes been less willing to throw his body around, I assume in an attempt to stay healthier.

If burns not throwing around that many hits allows him to play at an elite level for another season or two, or at the very least delays not falling off a cliff towards the end of his contract, then I think that is well worth him being less physical.

 

[Dicdonya]

If burns not throwing around that many hits allows him to play at an elite level for another season or two, or at the very least delays not falling off a cliff towards the end of his contract, then I think that is well worth him being less physical.

Not sure if you thought I was saying otherwise, but I totally agree.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

To me he is exactly the opposite from Burns, I don't get how you see Burns in Merkley.

Merkley does not seem to posses a big shot. Most the times I have seen him score he looks like hes passing it in the net.

He does not recklessly charge up the ice, he is super super controlled at all times, exactly the opposite of Burns who is crazy unpredictable.

He seems to possess the Thornton shooting mentality of "well I guess if I have to...." whereas Burns fires everything and the kitchen sink on net.

And yeah, Burns is a hulking, physical Dman, whereas Merkley is a smallish nimble Dman that seems to do his best to not engage in physical battles whenever possible.

Burns is the Ovechkin of Dmen, Merkley is the Thornton of Dmen. One is a wrecking ball focused on getting pucks on net, the other tries to possess the puck until a sweet opening for a pass shows up.

I could be wrong, but outside of his potential to score points, and suspect defense, I see nothing of Burns in Merkley.

Burns and Merkley are similar in that both are offensive defensemen with a suspect defensive game in the defensive zone, but their puck possession abilities in the neutral zone and offensive zone can potentially lead to them being strong shot suppression players going forward. Both of them might look like the “best player on the ice” all game and end up with 2 GF and 3 GA at 5V5. Burns certainly has a knack for doing that and I worry that Merkley may as well.

With that said, in terms of a purely stylistic comparison, I’m not seeing it between Burns and Merkley. I think Joe Thornton on defense is a more accurate comparison but there’s probably an undersized playmaking defenseman that Merkley is more realistically comparable to. Maybe Torey Krug or Keith Yandle just off the top of my head.

 

[hohosaregood]

The way Merkley walks the blue line and keeps pucks in play is on a different level than most any players I've seen. Obviously only seen it in the YouTube vids and at the prospect scrimmage but I haven't exactly seen many or any NHLers who are that much better than their peers.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Why are we comparing Merkley and Burns when there is a perfectly good Dan Boyle comparison out there?

Merkley has a ways to go if he wants to be as good as Boyle was defensively at the peak of his career, but in terms of style of play I thinks Boyle (or Tyson Barrie as someone else said) is far closer than Burns.

 

[Dicdonya]

The way Merkley walks the blue line and keeps pucks in play is on a different level than most any players I've seen. Obviously only seen it in the YouTube vids and at the prospect scrimmage but I haven't exactly seen many or any NHLers who are that much better than their peers.

Yeah, I really hate to get myself over excited about a player, especially one that has not played a single NHL game yet, but Merkley has some incredibly exciting skills.

His passing is absolutely sublime. He does not seem to ever miss a pass, they don't hop over sticks, or come too fast/slow. Outside of McDavid, I don't remember watching any other prospect that passes as well as Merkley. I certainly do not claim to have watched a ton of prospects though, but his passing is the 2nd best of any I have actually seen. If his passing translates at the NHL level, and he can be even average defensively, I am going to be very happy.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Why are we comparing Merkley and Burns when there is a perfectly good Dan Boyle comparison out there?

Merkley has a ways to go if he wants to be as good as Boyle was defensively at the peak of his career, but in terms of style of play I thinks Boyle (or Tyson Barrie as someone else said) is far closer than Burns.

Yeah, I see a lot more of Dan Boyle in him than I do Brent Burns. Boyle's vision seems underrated at this point but that stuff Merkley does was stuff that Boyle was doing a lot of. Merkley looks like he could be a better skater but Boyle had a lot of elusiveness in his skating game that I think Merkley would have to grow into. I also agree defensively but it took Boyle a very long time to get to his defensive peak as well.

 

[jarr92]

Merkley looks like he could be a better skater

In terms of what? Straight line speed? Boyle was an amazing skater.