Player Discussion John Merrill: a.k.a. Joe Dirt, a.k.a. Letterkenny Extra Edition

[Hullois]

?
MB got tons of praise this year. Made some good moves.

But not getting a legit top 4 for the left side in FOUR YEARS isn’t acceptable.

Agreed, but he just strengthened the third pairing pretty much for free and about 90% of the posts in this thread are trashing the trade.

 

[Natey]

Yikes, Natey have you been drinking?

A solid depth defenseman yes. If he's in our top 4, we're in deep doo-doo

I mean... Kulak is in our Top-4 right now. And Chiarot is in our Top-2 when healthy. Not to mention, Weber is pretty mediocre these days.

Our top-4 is trash. I'm not saying Merill is better than all of these players - but it's not as far off as people are making it seem. I'll let his gameplay do the talking.

Dude was good enough to be pretty much a regular with Vegas, but not good enough for us? HAHAHA.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

My wife would disagree. Since I'm famous for spilling mustard off my hotdogs, all over myself

Me too buddy. Every damn time.

 

[BargainBinSpecial]

This move is perplexing to say the least. The team is in dire need of a top 4 LD, similar to Petry and BargainBin throws away picks for another bottom pairing D. So does he honestly believe that you can park a bunch of pylons in front of Carey Price and win?

Petry Chiarot
Weber Edmundson
Romanov Merrill
Kulak
Ouellet
Leskinen

I only see two top 4 D on that list, and Weber is no longer there.

 

[The Great Weal]

SeEmS lIkE YoU gUyS wOuLd OnLy Be HaPpY wItH oVeChKiN oR hEdMaN.

Ovechkin/Hedman or Staal/Merrill. There's no such thing as in-between.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Agreed, but he just strengthened the third pairing pretty much for free and about 90% of the posts in this thread are trashing the trade.

You aren’t reading closely here.

In a vacuum it’s not so bad. But if this is all he does...

 

[The Great Weal]

Habs are like the only team in the league that has 4 bottom pairing dmen but still need to upgrade the bottom pairing lol

 

[Habs10Habs]

I mean... Kulak is in our Top-4 right now. And Chiarot is in our Top-2 when healthy. Not to mention, Weber is pretty mediocre these days.

Our top-4 is trash. I'm not saying Merill is better than all of these players - but it's not as far off as people are making it seem. I'll let his gameplay do the talking.

Dude was good enough to be pretty much a regular with Vegas, but not good enough for us? HAHAHA.

Yes they are, and you don't see too many posters here that are happy with those situations do you?

I know where you're coming from, and you know I've always enjoyed your opinions. I just think you're overrating Merril just a little bit. It won't be long until the masses start lampooning Merril, the same way the others you've listed are right now.

Lol true he was a regular. But Vegas was always top heavy (cap wise). Since they didn't have anyone ready from the minors to step up. They had to play someone

 

[CoupeStanley]

At this point, Bergevin clearly has a one-year plan... I don't think it's gonna work but it might and this is a good acquisition in that paradigm.

 

[OldCraig71]

At this point, I could care less but I did like the mustard analogy by @Whitesnake.

 

[MasterD]

#1-2LD is our new #1C. Won't be filled for decades. f*** this team.

 

[Doc McKenna]

SCOUTING REPORT

Has plenty of puck-moving ability. Also boasts a very big frame and some physicality. Has shutdown ability, as well. Can play on either side, which adds value. Lacks discipline. Needs to become a far more consistent defenseman (in all facets of the game) in order to garner more minutes at the big-league level.
Long Range Potential: Inconsistent defenseman.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

oh boy....good thing we don't have issues in that department.

 

[Habs13]

Vatanaan also waived

 

[Adam Michaels]

?
MB got tons of praise this year. Made some good moves.

But not getting a legit top 4 for the left side in FOUR YEARS isn’t acceptable.

This is a big miss on MB's part over the last few years.

You let Markov walk? No problem. You have a young kid in Sergachev who can grow into that role. You trade Sergachev? Problem. And not because you traded Sergachev, it's because you had no one to replace him with.

He never got a replacement for the replacement.

 

[Kriss E]

Sure then Merrill is #7 and Kulak is two injuries away from getting in at #8. Is that a bad thing?

Or maybe Merrill shows he's better than Chiarot and Chiarot is our #7.

It's pretty irrelevant, that's the point. Yawn move. Who gives a crap about this, what matters is the top 4 and we can't have two of Weber/Edm/Chiarot/Merrill there.
If our bottom pair improves, cool, but that shit won't move the needle.

 

[Tyson]

People who have never heard of him that is because he is nothing special.
I do remember vaguely that he got in some sort of trouble in College and was basically Sent packing and he signed with NJD.
Absolutely nothing special and the Habs did not improve today by adding him.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

oh boy....good thing we don't have issues in that department.

Good thing Chariot is coming back to fix that! He was only 1st in the league in that department!

 

[LaP]

You aren’t reading closely here.

In a vacuum it’s not so bad. But if this is all he does...

Trades cannot be evaluated in a vacuum though. They need to be evaluated based on the needs of the team. Whatever it's current needs (prime time players or vets) of 2-3 years down the road (prospects or picks). I don't see how Jon Merrill fits in any needs we have. We currently need more than him. Kulak is fine as a bottom pairing guys and adding a real need (top 4) would push Chiarot where he blongs (3rd pairing). 2-3 years down the road we will need space for the kids. It's not a terrible trade like Jordie Benn was not a terrible trade. It's just a useless one in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Halakitlikethat]

man we need a puck moving dman

It’s clear bergevin doesnt believe in PMD at this point

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

John Merril in Las Vegas:

John Merrill after 36 games in Detroit:

What the hell happened?

I was not sure if it was the same person until I looked at his neck... WTF ?

 

[LaP]

John Merril in Las Vegas:

John Merrill after 36 games in Detroit:

What the hell happened?

He was a healthy scratch in Vegas here and there. Had time to work on his look i suspect he was seeing more action in Detroit one of the worst team in the league.

 

[Zorba]

Oh, really? Funny that I wrote 4-6 then, eh? Which would make him a 3rd pairing guy, who could sub in as a #4 in a pinch. Thanks for coming out.

No he can’t sub in as a 4. Neither could mete or kulak. Cuz all of them are bottom pairing to 7th d men at max

 

[Halakitlikethat]

It was a bottom RD MB needed to acquire if he was to acquire a bottom pairing D, not another defensive LD.

I'm starting to think MB can't even tell the right from his left at this point.

He’s a good guy in the room though

 

[Zorba]

This is a big miss on MB's part over the last few years.

You let Markov walk? No problem. You have a young kid in Sergachev who can grow into that role. You trade Sergachev? Problem. And not because you traded Sergachev, it's because you had no one to replace him with.

He never got a replacement for the replacement.

He traded his two most valuable assets, sergachev and subban and he didn’t pick up a number 1C. That’s pure incompetence

 

[Doc McKenna]

I think this guy gives us extra depth can play both sides . If I am playing coach/gm I start resting Webber . Monday I still acquire a Dunn or a Murray type defenceman

Does that mean he pulls a bergevin special and scores on allen or price?