Sheng Peng
What’s the trade value of a 2018 first-round pick that hasn’t panned out?
That’s what the San Jose Sharks are about to find out.
Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff reported on Tuesday morning that Ryan Merkley, 21st overall selection of that Draft, had requested a trade from the Sharks.
Merkley’s agent J.P. Barry told The Mercury News: “We feel a change will be better for him opportunity-wise after five years.”
That opportunity was lacking this season in San Jose.
Here what an NHL executive and NHL scout, both from outside the San Jose Sharks organization, had to say about what the talented defenseman could command in a trade.
“Maybe a fifth? Maybe a fourth?” the scout mused. “Has the talent to play, and it only takes one team to believe in him enough.”
That team doesn’t appear to be the San Jose Sharks anymore.
After making his NHL debut last year and suiting up for 39 games, the 5-foot-11 Merkley, in the last year of his entry-level contract, was expected to seriously challenge for a role with the big club coming into training camp. Besides Erik Karlsson and Mario Ferraro, and long-term contract commitments to Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Matt Benning, it looked like an open competition for a spot on San Jose’s blueline.
After Karlsson too, and the departure of Brent Burns, the squad had a clear need for a second-unit power play quarterback.
However, Merkley did not come into camp and seize this opportunity.
San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn remarked today that the biggest issue then was “probably just the consistency with his competitiveness.”
So the Sharks broke camp with journeyman Scott Harrington in the line-up. Undrafted free agent Nick Cicek, granted a fast-rising prospect in the San Jose system, has received multiple recalls ahead of Merkley.
I think it’s safe to say, even before his trade request, that once-prized prospect hasn’t been exactly off-limits.
“He doesn’t have much value,” the NHL executive said. “He will get traded for a similarly-struggling former first-rounder.”
That’s all about perception, the exec shared. He agreed a fifth-rounder is appropriate value, but “it’s a bad look if they trade a first-rounder for a fifth.”
It’s worth noting here that Merkley isn’t GM Mike Grier’s pick, he’s ex-GM Doug Wilson’s selection. So Grier might not be as attached to this top San Jose Sharks pick.
But…
“Doubt anyone will give an actual pick if they could get him for free next season,” the exec noted, of Merkley’s contract situation.
So as the scout stressed, does any NHL team really like Merkley, enough to give up a draft pick or a credible prospect right now?
We’re about to find out.
Merkley has posted 14 assists in 30 AHL games this season. However, speaking with multiple NHL scouts who have watched Merkley this year, they haven’t seen any demonstrable growth in his game. And during a Dec. 27 tilt against the Bakersfield Condors, Barracuda head coach John McCarthy benched Merkley for two periods.
What McCarthy said was missing that night isn’t much different than what Quinn said about Merkley’s camp.
“Just a little bit of urgency,” McCarthy recalled today. “Urgency to go back to the puck, a little bit of defensive detail.”
There have been questions about the 185-pound blueliner’s defensive acumen and urgency from his time as a pre-Draft point-per-game OHL producer over a half-decade ago.
Those questions persist, and now, it’s harder-than-ever to say how much offense that Merkley will produce at the highest level.
This executive certainly won’t be banging the table for Merkley: “Offense isn’t [consistently] special and he doesn’t defend well at all.”