The San Jose Sharks have reportedly made defenseman Ryan Merkley available to be moved, according to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. This comes after Merkley requested a trade.
Merkley was originally selected 21st overall by the Sharks in the 2018 NHL Draft. He was a former first-overall pick in the OHL before that, scoring at more than a point-per-game rate over nearly 250 games across four seasons of junior hockey.
Since turning professional, Merkley has spent the majority of his time with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. He did play half the season in the NHL last year, managing six points in 39 NHL games, but he’s now spent this season back in the AHL. In 30 games with the Barracuda this year, he’s managed 14 assists.
There’s no denying Merkley’s offensive abilities. He has the potential to be a very productive offensive defenseman in the NHL and at just 22 years old, he’s still got time to make that jump. While his game isn’t quite as well-rounded as you’d maybe want to see at this point, Merkley still has a very high ceiling.
Now though, the Sharks are in a tough position. While it’s telling that he couldn’t crack the team’s roster despite San Jose being nowhere near contender status, it seems like there wasn’t much direction for Merkley within the organization. Now as they look to trade him, it’s going to be difficult to get much back.
Looking at similar situations like this, a recent one that comes to mind is Lias Andersson being traded from the New York Rangers to Los Angeles Kings. Andersson was a seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft, before being traded to the Kings right before turning 22 years old in 2020. Andersson had played 66 games with the Rangers before being traded, and New York received a late second-round pick in return.
We also saw Jack McBain traded from the Minnesota Wild to the Arizona Coyotes as a 22-year-old prospect last year despite having played zero professional games to that point, in exchange for a second-round pick.
So it’s at least somewhat possible we see someone give up a second-round pick in a trade, but it still seems like a bit of a long shot. The reality is the Sharks are probably looking at getting back a mid-round pick, likely in the third round, for a player who’s arguably still one of the top prospects in the organization.
We’ll see how this plays out. Given the team’s position, it doesn’t really make sense to try to get a player back for Merkley, and considering he’s not an established NHLer, if they did go that route, they’re not getting back much of an impact player. Possibly a more realistic option would be the Sharks looking to get a different prospect in return for Merkely instead of a mid-round pick.
Regardless, it’s going to be tough for the Sharks to win any trade here.
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