Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin surprised a lot of fans when he placed 22 year old Victor Mete on waivers yesterday afternoon.
It started to make sense a few hours later when the team announced they had made a trade to add a veteran defender to the team.
Jon Merrill was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings for a 5th round pick and minor league forward Hayden Verbeek. Merrill is certainly not a superstar player in the NHL, and many casual fans may not even know his name. So, why did the Habs float Mete out there on waivers to make room for him?
Well, to put it succinctly, he is a defensive, shutdown specialist. He has been one of the league’s best defenders at stopping scoring chances from happening in his own zone. Though he offers very little offensively, as his 66 points in 392 career NHL games will attest, he can handle a defensive assignment against the league’s best. His minuscule salary (by NHL standards) of $925,000 made the deal an easy one to complete financially.
Jon Merrill (traded to Montreal for a fifth) is a good shutdown defender, useful on the PK, not a shooting threat to speak of. pic.twitter.com/LatIrxrnuY
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) April 11, 2021
As Micah Blake McCurdy’s graph shows, Merrill’s teams don’t score a lot when he is on the ice, but Merrill’s squad allows far less chances against than they get when he is playing.
According to naturalstattrick.com, the Vegas Golden Knights had 368 scoring chances in Merrill’s 738 minutes of even strength ice time last season. In that same period, they allowed only 273 scoring chances. That is a scoring chance for percentage of 57.4%, and a huge part of that was the fact Merrill was so good at limiting chances against.
Merrill’s numbers haven’t been as terrific this season with the Red Wings. He is playing the second most minutes on one of the worst teams in the league, but somehow stayed on the positive side of the plus-minus measure with a plus 2 so far this season.
The 29 year old left shot averages just under 20 minutes per game on a team that has been outscored by 43 goals in their 43 games so far this season. Yet, somehow, he is on the ice for more goals for than against at even strength.
Those who have watched him closely in Detroit have been impressed.
First impression: that is one hell of a trade for Montreal. Merrill has been one of Detroit's best defensemen this season. He makes less than $1 million. He'll help the Canadiens in the playoffs. To get him for a fifth-rounder is a great bit of work by the Canadiens
— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) April 11, 2021
So, what do the Habs get with Jon Merrill?
They just got a cheap, great defensive player that will be able to help out their power play. It’s hard to predict where he will play, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him end up on a shutdown pairing with Shea Weber while Joel Edmundson moves back to a pairing with Jeff Petry.