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Originally Posted by Tkachukwagon
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Merkley was a high skill player in the 2018 draft with some arguing that based on talent alone he should be a top 10 pick. He was reportedly on many teams do not draft lists.
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Ryan Merkley was the most polarizing player of the first round, hands down. While he was the first-overall pick of the 2016 OHL Draft and has put up 122 points in 125 games with the Guelph Storm, he was reportedly on a lot of teams’ do-not-draft lists. A first-round — and probably top 10 — talent in a vacuum, Merkley is a high-risk, high-reward prospect who wasn’t even a top-31 pick on draft guru Sam Cosentino’s mock.
There are a few reasons why he’s viewed as such a volatile pick despite all his talent. First, Merkley is an all-offence guy from the blue line at this point and can sometimes be a liability at the defensive end. Second, he’s had a few on-ice incidents that have brought his composure and coachability into question, such as this retaliatory two-handed slash on Daniel Walker that led to a three-game suspension.
Before that, Merkley had an episode in a game in which he turned over the puck multiple times on one power play and then visibly argued at the bench with his coach, Jarrod Skalde, who became so frustrated with his rookie that he banished him to the dressing room for the game.
Merkley’s even been a healthy scratch a few times.
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He may have matured since then. Could see a team taking a flyer on him to see if they could harness his potential.
He seems very much like how Flames prospect Jeremie Poirier was touted except there wasn't coachability questions with Poirier.