Big Opportunity Awaits Nick Merkley with New Jersey Devils
By Mike Luci
Yesterday, the New Jersey Devils finally executed the highly anticipated Taylor Hall trade, sending him, along with winger Blake Speers, to the Arizona Coyotes. Heading back to the Garden State are prospects Nick Merkley, Nathan Schnarr, Kevin Bahl, along with a 2020 first-round pick and conditional 2021 third-round selection.
At first glance, the return for Hall seems disappointing and nowhere near what New Jersey Devils fans expected. They didn’t seem to receive that blue chip prospect or player capable of making that immediate or forthcoming impact Shero would have needed to make this deal a true success—as discussed in a previous piece. Schnarr is a center in his first pro-season (AHL), while Bahl is a 19-year-old defenseman in the OHL, who’s at least 1-2 years from being NHL-ready.
Nick Merkley, on the other hand, is the likeliest to make their New Jersey Devils debut first out of these three, and could potentially do so at some point this season. Drafted 30th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the 22-year old right wing is in the midst of his third AHL season, where he’s posted totals of three goals and 16 points in 26 contests.
These figures aren’t too encouraging at first, but delving deeper into his three AHL seasons can shed some light on what he has to offer. In his first pro-season (2017-2018), Merkley averaged over a point-per-game with 18 goals and 39 points in 38 games. Last year, Merkley missed Tuscon’s first 21 games while recovering from knee surgery and started the season with six goals and nine points in his first eight games. After going 27 games without a goal (getting 14 assists over that span), Merkley finished strong with four goals and 11 points in his final 10 contests, giving him 10 goals and 34 points in 45 games.
Overall, Merkley has averaged slightly over .81 points per game in the AHL and .70 points per game this and last season. In addition to last season’s 27-game goal drought, it took Merkley eight games to score his first goal this season and he’s been goal-less in his last nine contests. It seems the potential is there for Merkley, but he struggles with consistency and even puck luck.
These trends are best highlighted by looking at how his shot totals are distributed over his last two seasons and how they coincide with his scoring spurts. Of his 69 shots this season (2.65 per game), he registered 18 in his first eight games (2.25 per game), 21 in his last nine (2.33 per game), while getting 30 shots on net in the nine games (3.33 shots per game) between his first and last goals of the season.
In 2018-2019, Merkley finished with 105 shots (2.33 per game). During his first eight games prior to his goal drought, Merkley had 16 shots on net (2.00 per game), with 26 shots in his last 10 games of that season (2.60 per game). Ironically, Merkley’s 79 shots over his 27-game goal drought averaged out to 2.92 shots per game.
In fact, Merkley might have been poised to make the Coyotes out of training camp this fall, had it not been for the unprecedented rise of Conor Garland last season, who presently leads Arizona in goals (12). As Jim Matheson noted, the Coyotes believed Conor Garland and Clayton Keller sufficed for the roster’s number of small forwards, making Merkley expendable. In essence, Merkley was getting due for a change of scenery and opportunity to advance his career elsewhere, which is being offered with this trade to the New Jersey Devils.
Merkley comes to a Devils team that could use all the help they can get offensively. Outside of Kyle Palmieri and Wayne Simmonds (who’s days with the organization are also expected to be numbered), the Devils lack natural right wing depth, which is something Merkley can bring. While he’s considered undersized at 5’10/5’11 (depending on the site), young smaller players tend to have a better chance at thriving in the Eastern Conference, where the playing style isn’t as physical and more speed/skill-oriented than out west.
This isn’t to say Merkley coming to the New Jersey Devils makes him a shoe-in point-per-game player, as much as the fit and opportunity certainly exist for the 22 year old to take advantage. Despite last season’s setbacks, Merkley has shown he’s an NHL-capable player, but became a victim of circumstances with the Arizona Coyotes. This change of scenery could be just what he needs for taking his career to the next level, if he can capitalize on the opportunities presented to him.