Quoting: papishark
A lot higher than anyone on here will tell you. Im willing to bet none of these guys have ever seen him play, so who are they to say? Anyways I would move him only in a deal for a young future top six forward or elite goalie prospect
Quoting: SammyT_51
Very low.
Quoting: Ledge_And_Dairy
Offensive defense with lots of upside, still young and expansion exempt. Sharks are an older team that should look to retool around him and Karlsson on the right side and try to move Burns. Cant see them moving him
Hes definitely not what Tampa should be looking for
Quoting: Hedman77
That’s why I’m asking for his value
Quoting: weird_flex_but_ok
Probably bad because hes a cancer
I agree and disagree with a lot of the points made.
Pros -
Talent
Upside/ Ceiling/ Potential
Offensive IQ
Whatever else you can go on
Cons -
Attitude
Locker room clashes
Maturity
Offensive focused too much sometimes and forgets he’s a D man
I’d like to break it down to a few easy statements.
Merkley is arguably one of the most frustrating cases of a prospect you can have. Sure there’s busts and what not (like Patrick, he so highly touted but Philly definitely didn’t get what they expected, but he’s finding his way but that’s still frustrating). But Merkley has the talent to be a superstar. One of the key points made by his draft class/ year was that he arguably could be ahead of Dahlin, that’s crazy but the things I heard and saw were that this kid has the tools and ability to be the best defenseman draft in his class (surpassing Dahlin); atleast skill wise he has the toolset to be extraordinary.
The problem now is his cockiness and ego, mixed with his attitude. He has the potential to be everything he can be and more but he is his worst enemy as his mindset, attitude, off ice demeanour and his sheer lack of self reflection and critical thinking could be the death of him.
Obviously there’s bold statements but I trying to be unbiased; I do believe some of the analysis of him; that he could be an extraordinary player. But that key word is could. He wasn’t on teams no draft list because of his talent as he was one of the most talented kids in his year, but because his weakness isn’t something you can “coach” but it is himself. If he chooses to suit up and compete and be a PROFESSIONAL; then he will succeed. If he chooses to suit up and compete on HIS OWN TERMS, his career and opportunity will blow up and go down in flames.
His VALUE is high, but his worth to other teams are low. It will depend on the GM not the value. He’s worth it more to the team to keep him then to trade him unless its fair value on his potential. As a team who had him on his no draft list will not offer quality for him.