Re: Ryan Merkley wants out of SJ
Guys staring down the barrel of his last potential shot at staying in the NHL. He has 39gp since being drafted in 2018 (5yrs ago), is at the end of his contract (RFA in July), and saw Timmins who was drafted the yr prior essentially have his career saved by going to a new (good) team and just getting minutes.
I honestly don't know if he's worthy of a spot in an NHL teams plans, but RHD and can skate...he should be given a legit shot by a well structured team.
A team like NJD might be a fit in their need of a RHD for the 6th/7th/8th Dman role. Spots are opening up next yr on their core. But they aren't exactly sound for him to flourish to translate the final 40games into a new contract really.
I think most D who get moved after being benched/minor'd for so long without getting an opportunity on a bad team don't work out on a new team. However, if I'm a team that is in need of a RHD to stop gap some injuries, I'd trade "PTBDL" for him. Or a 7th rounder kinda thing.
12 Team, H2H, Keep 6 (in Bold)
G, A, Pts, PPP, FW, SOG, Hits, Blocks
W, Saves, S%, GAA, Game Started
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 1Util, 2G, 5BN, 2IR, 1IR+, 1NA
C: Horvat, Trocheck
LW: J. Robertson, Byfield (C), Guenther
RW: Pavelski (C), Giroux (C), Svechnikov (LW)
D: Fox, Makar, Bouchard, Morrissey, Gudas
Util: Meier (LW, RW)
G: Oettinger, Georgiev, Samsonov, Woll