Boyle was a great skater in terms of being elusive but in terms of speed he wasn't great but good. Merkley could probably be better speed-wise while also having Boyle's elusive skating ability.
Confirmed with Link: Sharks sign Ryan Merkley to ELC
- Thread starter Lebanezer
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Boyle was a great skater in terms of being elusive but in terms of speed he wasn't great but good. Merkley could probably be better speed-wise while also having Boyle's elusive skating ability.
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
Oh for sure. I mean, Boyle was undrafted and didn’t really catch on until his second team. I don’t think his development curve can be compared to Merkley. I just mean that IF (big if) Merkley hits his highest potential, he’s basically Dan Boyle.
I am not sure if i buy into the rationale that a first rounder with ~10 skill who fell to 21 due to character issues who hits his highest potential will at best be equal to an undrafted Dan Boyle.
WTFetus
Marlov
Undrafted has nothing to do with peak ability. Tyler Johnson? Martin St. Louis? Would you say the same if a first round goalie was said to be have a peak equal to Bobrovsky?
Dan Boyle at his peak was a #1D.
Let's not unnecessarily confuse the issue. What I am saying is that Merkeley is substantially better than Dan Boyle was at the same age, so I am not sure any support exists for the assertion that, if Merkeley hits his highest potential, he cannot be a better player than Dan Boyle. The kid already has some elite tools in his vision, passing, and skating.
Maladroit
Registered User
Dan Boyle was a phenomenal player at Merkley's age. He scored 81 points in 53 games in Canadian Junior A at Merkley's age then went on to put up fantastic numbers for a defenseman at Miami of Ohio. If a prospect with Boyle's numbers were eligible for the 2018 draft he would have been a top 10 pick. The league has drastically changed in the past 25 years since Boyle went undrafted, especially when it comes to undersized defensemen. Boyle wasn't some late bloomer, teams were just really stupid (and in fairness there were more legitimate concerns about whether a small defenseman could survive in the mid-90s NHL).
Yeah boyles lateness into the nhl had nothing to do with skill. He was under 6'0 tall and i believe at that time like 160lbs.
Maladroit
Registered User
Yeah just looking at the numbers Boyle played in the same league as Cale Makar in their respective draft years and he outscored Makar despite being nine months younger at the time of the draft. Makar went 4th overall last year. Boyle was almost certainly a better prospect in his draft year than Makar was. It was just a different NHL back then.
I know nothing about scoring in university but i highly doubt even back then or even now there is not many point per game defensemen
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
So what if Boyle was undrafted? He was a legitimate #1D in his prime and perhaps the best PPQB in the league. Are you suggesting that Merkley has higher upside than that? Who cares if Merkley is better at the same age (not necessarily true!)? If Merkley turns into a Boyle clone, we should all kneel at the alter of DW Jr.
SnarkAttack
Registered Loser
Man, that bum Pavelski will never have the upside of Alex Schoenborn
The Nemesis
Semper Tyrannus
Nolan11
Registered User
- Mar 5, 2013
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The Nemesis
Semper Tyrannus
That was a quote that Daigle gave after getting drafted.
No one remembers No. 2, eh Daigle? Well, Pronger's wondering what happened to No. 1 from 1993 draft
#2 was Chris Pronger.
That was a quote that Daigle gave after getting drafted.
No one remembers No. 2, eh Daigle? Well, Pronger's wondering what happened to No. 1 from 1993 draft
#2 was Chris Pronger.
Even 20 years ago ottawa failing hard. Sheesh.
The Nemesis
Semper Tyrannus
The top 5 in 1993 was Daigle, Pronger, Chris Gratton, Paul Kariya, and Rob Niedermeyer. Not that Neidermayer or Gratton were world-beaters, but basically anyone from that batch would've been better than Daigle.
and #6 was the Sharks pick and was Viktor Kozlov. Which, as I've discussed at length before, still lives on in the Sharks' bloodline through Thornton, Tierney, and Balcers.
They did manage to snag Pavol Demitra in round 9 of that draft. So that's something.
Merkley is a clone of Goldobin in terms of style. Slender, fast, highy skilled, and defensivel pourous with some question of work ethic and character. I remember being very happy they drafted Goldobin. I did not want another Petrecki-type big physical, yet lower skilled and boring guy. With the exception of cooch, dougie has not drafted a consistent 50+ point player since his first draft is 2003 (pavelski). A few guys have hit 50 points (michalek, clowe, seto...), but noone has established themselves as a perennial top liner. I really want to see the sharks go for a top liner. So, Goldy was either gunna be a superstar or suck. Unfortunately, it seems closer to the latter, and now hes gone.
Merkley will either learn the defensive game, get stronger, and be the next ryan ellis or Torey Krug (or Dan Boble as mentioned)... Or... he'll find himself in the press box for the Cuda after being a complete sieve. Sommer has no patience for players who dont commit defensively, so Merkley is a project, not so unlike Jeremy Roy. Sommer has a big job developing those two, but Merkley will be a home run or complete strike out. Again, Im just fine with that trade-off picking in the 20s. That's the place to go for it....
(as an aside, I am quite interested in what Jon Leonard may become. He had a hell of a freshman year at Umass, and he and ferraro look very interesting. The sharks own the leading scorer and leading defenseman on that team, both accomplishing that as freshman. That's pretty remarkable... I'll be following that team closely this year, and if those two improve, it's gunna be the big steal of the draft out of the 6th round.)
Merkley will either learn the defensive game, get stronger, and be the next ryan ellis or Torey Krug (or Dan Boble as mentioned)... Or... he'll find himself in the press box for the Cuda after being a complete sieve. Sommer has no patience for players who dont commit defensively, so Merkley is a project, not so unlike Jeremy Roy. Sommer has a big job developing those two, but Merkley will be a home run or complete strike out. Again, Im just fine with that trade-off picking in the 20s. That's the place to go for it....
(as an aside, I am quite interested in what Jon Leonard may become. He had a hell of a freshman year at Umass, and he and ferraro look very interesting. The sharks own the leading scorer and leading defenseman on that team, both accomplishing that as freshman. That's pretty remarkable... I'll be following that team closely this year, and if those two improve, it's gunna be the big steal of the draft out of the 6th round.)
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
This seems like a weird statement but I kind of agree, although not in the way you probably intended.
I was watching some highlights of Merkley and one thing struck me as extremely similar to Goldobin, and that’s that he just on such a higher level creatively than any of his teammates that they just don’t see a lot of what he does coming. Some of the passes he makes are just so next level that the perma-juniors/ECHL types just don’t have the anticipation or creativity to see them coming.
Obviously Goldobin had a lot of flaws that prevent him from being an NHLer, but his creativity and offensive IQ were not one of them. Even in the AHL, he was next level in that regard.
spintheblackcircle
incoming!!!
- Mar 1, 2002
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Merkley's rookie tournament performance shows why he's...
“We’re probably three years away (from Merkley playing in the NHL) — what’s he going to be like in three years, when he’s doing this stuff now?” Sommer said. “A lot of stuff (Boyle) did, this guy is doing at 18.”
“We’re probably three years away (from Merkley playing in the NHL) — what’s he going to be like in three years, when he’s doing this stuff now?” Sommer said. “A lot of stuff (Boyle) did, this guy is doing at 18.”
Isn't merkely 2 or 3 years away from playing in the ahl? If so that 3 year number is a good thing. It will mean sommer doesn't have long enough to destroy merkely.
Bowie22
blow it up
seroes
Registered User
Internazionale
Registered User
We all know that he has to improve his defensive game. 2-3 years away from the NHL shouldn't come as a big shock to anyone. Scary to think how he'll be offensively in 3 years time with all the mentoring and tutoring he will receive. I'd take an elite offensive defenseman like Boyle anytime .
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