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22-year-old right shot defenseman and former 1st round pick officially requests a trade
According to Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, the San Jose Sharks have placed former 1st round draft pick on the trading block. Per his sources, 2018 21st overall pick Ryan Merkley is being shopped by the Sharks. No word on what the potential ask is.
Merkley, 22, is a right-shot defenseman who is currently not happy with his situation in San Jose, having spent the majority of the last 3 seasons in the AHL with the San Jose Barracuda. He has just 39 games of NHL experience and has scored 1 goal and notched 5 assists for a total of 6 points in his young NHL career. He's also waivers-exempt, which is a bonus.
There should be no shortage of teams who are interest in adding a young right-shot blueliner. As we all know, right handed defenders are hot commodities and while Merkley doesn't have a ton of NHL success to speak of, at 22 years of age, there's still plenty of room for growth, as defensemen often develop more slowly than forwards.
Merkley apparently approached the Sharks recently to request a trade. It's worth noting that Merkley is from Oakville, ON.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 3 | 236 ANSWERS 22-year-old right shot defenseman and former 1st round pick officially requests a trade Should the Leafs take a look at bringing in 22-year-old Oakville, ON native Ryan Merkley? | ||
| Yes | 91 | 38.6 % |
| No | 47 | 19.9 % |
| Who? | 98 | 41.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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