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

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nt Analysis

Merrill is a solid two-way defender with outstanding poise and hockey smarts. He skates well, shows no fear in rushing the puck up the ice and can quarterback a power play with his great distribution skills and shot. Since he has not played a full season of hockey since his freshman campaign at Michigan, he is still a little raw. Still, he has risen to the occasion and makes his team better whenever he’s on the ice.
Future

Merrill opened the 2014-15 season with New Jersey and has been a workhorse for the Devils. Arguably New Jersey's best defenseman at the end of last season, he missed almost the entire month of November this season due to injury. Since his return he is averaging almost over 24 minutes of ice time per game. Despite his youth Merrill has established himself in the top four of the team's defense corps.
 
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Archijerej said:
Wouldn’t that mean one of Chiarot/Romanov not playing?
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There might be a rotation or strategic deployment. Maybe Chiarot gradually brought in re his injury (example not playing him on consecutive games) or pacing Romanov who has never played at the current level of TOI and may show signs of fatigue.

With so many games condensed into so few days, there is a risk of injury to those who are overused and this is also where your depth can step in.

And the 4th line option whenever he doesn’t draw in on D.

It’s not perfect and I don’t know that he’ll necessarily get into a lot of games, but there may be opportunities as they tackle those games.

They’d have to find ways to make him draw in such that his offensive skills are not completely negated by being misdeployed.

Just my 2 cents.
 
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Ezpz said:
Gorges was never a captain, that was a myth.
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I photoshopped this, making it look like Josh Gorges was a captain with the Kelowna Rockets, which he definitely never was.

This is my best work yet.

8859149A-F332-4B26-A864-72B4A02BBFB3.jpeg
 
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Runner77 said:
There might be a rotation or strategic deployment. Maybe Chiarot gradually brought in re his injury (example not playing him on consecutive games) or pacing Romanov who has never played at the current level of TOI and may show signs of fatigue.

With so many games condensed into so few days, there is a risk of injury to those who are overused and this is also where your depth can step in.

And the 4th line option whenever he doesn’t draw in on D.

It’s not perfect and I don’t know that he’ll necessarily get into a lot of games, but there may be opportunities as they tackle those games.

They’d have to find ways to make him draw in such that his offensive skills are not completely negated by being misdeployed.

Just my 2 cents.
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I think fatigue is already hampering the defensive squad, so I think a rotation system is the smartest way to go.

I suspect they will only use it for select players, but I think all the guys on he backend should be rotating as long as the habs have the luxury of a playoff cushion.

I mean, let's think about this.

Weber has an extensive injury history with the habs so its a mild surprise that he's escaped the bug so far, but he could be suffering with some degree of fatigue as a byproduct.

Petry's play has dropped off quite a bit as of late. He's a minute muncher, and could benefit from some time off during this unforgiving schedule.

I don't think edmundson is accustomed to this type of workload, so fatigue could be a factor for him as well.

You mentioned Romanov, and why a break here and there wouldn't be a bad thing.


Then you have guys like kulak and Gustafson who haven't exactly established themselves as full time guys, so they are automatic rotational guys.

I think it makes more sense to rotate up and down the lineup rather than just the bottom end.
 
JianYang said:
I think fatigue is already hampering the defensive squad, so I think a rotation system is the smartest way to go.

I suspect they will only use it for select players, but I think all the guys on he backend should be rotating as long as the habs have the luxury of a playoff cushion.

I mean, let's think about this.

Weber has an extensive injury history with the habs so its a mild surprise that he's escaped the bug so far, but he could be suffering with some degree of fatigue as a byproduct.

Petry's play has dropped off quite a bit as of late. He's a minute muncher, and could benefit from some time off during this unforgiving schedule.

I don't think edmundson is accustomed to this type of workload, so fatigue could be a factor for him as well.

You mentioned Romanov, and why a break here and there wouldn't be a bad thing.


Then you have guys like kulak and Gustafson who haven't exactly established themselves as full time guys, so they are automatic rotational guys.

I think it makes more sense to rotate up and down the lineup rather than just the bottom end.
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Only mentioned the low end in respect of Gustafsson’s deployment on D, who you could probably only use on the third pair with the right partner.

There is a better opportunity with Merrill who showed he could play 20 minutes in Detroit and who could be rotated into your top 4 to provide your regulars a break as he is defensively responsible.
 
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MarkovsKnee said:
Basically, anything below the line is bad. Anything above it is good.

The first 3 bars are related to offensive contribution (it's bad - he doesn't do much offensively).

The last 2 bars show his defensive contribution for goals against (it's good - he doesn't get scored on much).

It also shows that he's better than Savard defensively, but a bit worse offensively. Savard went for a 1st, 3rd & 4th.

We got Merrill for a 5th.
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That chart has two analytics that I consider bogus. xGA/60 and xGF/60. Expected goals for and expected goals against. I find it funny that many come on this board and ridicule the +/- stat but some of those very posters will use xGF and xGA as revealing stats.
 
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robert ethan said:
Seriously, this was a great trade by Bergevin for the short term, and will be a greater one if they sign Merrill long term.

Also, getting Staal for a third and a fifth, when the Leafs just traded a first and a third for Foligno, makes that deal look great.
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Except Foligno can still play NHL hockey. Staal seems like he uses a wheelchair to roll to his Porche.
 
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Adam Michaels said:
Manon Rheaume on TSN690 said she spoke with the Red Wings' equipment manager, because she lives in Michigan and coaches girls hockey and the Red Wings help them out with equipment and other such things.

She asked the Wings equipment manager what he thinks of the trade. He told her it's a big loss for the Wings and a good acquisition for the Habs.
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Being an equipment manager maybe he sees the players from a different perspective. Maybe Joe Dirt will be a loss for Detroit because he doesn't go through much equipment over the season.
 
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Habs Icing said:
That chart has two analytics that I consider bogus. xGA/60 and xGF/60. Expected goals for and expected goals against. I find it funny that many come on this board and ridicule the +/- stat but some of those very posters will use xGF and xGA as revealing stats.
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I laugh when I see a guy with 4 goals on the season get hyped up because they have a high xGF. Like... So what? We know they aren't going to score real goals that you know... count.
 
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The more I read about/hear from Merril the more I like the acquisition. Yeah he's another 4/5 dman but on our team he is our 6. Our Dcore is now built similar to our forwards no true elite line just a bunch of good players.

Hear me out MB has tried to create a mix of Vegas' first year and the St Louis Blues that won the cup.

Deep forward lines with no stars and a big, physical Dcore with a lot of reach. If Proce 0laus well we could go on a decent playoff run. Cup, prbly not. But get some playoff experience for our young guys, I think so.
 
Captain97 said:
The more I read about/hear from Merril the more I like the acquisition. Yeah he's another 4/5 dman but on our team he is our 6. Our Dcore is now built similar to our forwards no true elite line just a bunch of good players.

Hear me out MB has tried to create a mix of Vegas' first year and the St Louis Blues that won the cup.

Deep forward lines with no stars and a big, physical Dcore with a lot of reach. If Proce 0laus well we could go on a decent playoff run. Cup, prbly not. But get some playoff experience for our young guys, I think so.
Click to expand...

I don't agree with STL, they had a top 3 of Pietrangelo/Parayko/Bouwmeester who was really solid and they had elite talent on there forward group with ROR and Tarasenko. I agree for Vegas though
 
Captain97 said:
The more I read about/hear from Merril the more I like the acquisition. Yeah he's another 4/5 dman but on our team he is our 6. Our Dcore is now built similar to our forwards no true elite line just a bunch of good players.

Hear me out MB has tried to create a mix of Vegas' first year and the St Louis Blues that won the cup.

Deep forward lines with no stars and a big, physical Dcore with a lot of reach. If Proce 0laus well we could go on a decent playoff run. Cup, prbly not. But get some playoff experience for our young guys, I think so.
Click to expand...

Tarasenko... ROR... Pietrangelo... = All stars
Karlsson 40 goals, Marchesault & Perron both ~ppg...

if that's the "mix" MB was trying to create, he forgot some pretty key ingredients... like baking a cake without flour lol
 
Miller Time said:
Tarasenko... ROR... Pietrangelo... = All stars
Karlsson 40 goals, Marchesault & Perron both ~ppg...

if that's the "mix" MB was trying to create, he forgot some pretty key ingredients... like baking a cake without flour lol
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I agree for STL but Karlsson Marchesault & Perron where not PPG player before Vegas
 
Vachon23 said:
I don't agree with STL, they had a top 3 of Pietrangelo/Parayko/Bouwmeester who was really solid and they had elite talent on there forward group with ROR and Tarasenko. I agree for Vegas though
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I didn't say exact replicas I'm saying I think it's the inspiration for it.

St Louis had an absolutely Towering Defence core that was mostly defensive. AP only had 41 points the year they won the cup. And Vegas was basically a bunch of 2nd liners who had career years in the regular season.

Regarding our Dcore.

Petry and Pietrangelo are closer than people think imo.

Weber is basically older/worse Parayko (does mb see it that way)

Bouwmeester, we have Chiarot who in primes not close. But 35 year old Bouwmeester vs 29 chiarot arnet that far apart.

They had eddy we have eddy

Etc

Their dcore was definitely better but similar in design. Not saying it will work but that's the inspiration
 
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