Red Wings Trade Merrill to Montreal

The Detroit Red Wings traded defenseman Jon Merrill to the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, bringing back a fifth-round pick and prospect Hayden Verbeek in return.

TRADE:

To Montreal #Canadiens
D Jon Merrill

To Detroit #RedWings
F Hayden Verbeek
2021 5th RD pick (Previously from OTT)https://t.co/VvFJuFT6un

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) April 11, 2021

Verbeek is the nephew of Detroit assistant general manager Pat Verbeek.  In three professional seasons, his AHL performance has been underwhelming.  He’s had to spend time in the ECHL in two of those three years.

With the fifth-round pick belonging to the Ottawa Senators, it will be early in the round.

It feels like the Wings could have gotten more for Merrill, one of their better defensemen this season on a cheap contract, than a fifth-rounder and a seemingly washed-up prospect.  As I said with the Patrik Nemeth trade, I’d rather see all of Detroit’s expiring contracts traded for something than nothing, but stocking up on fourth and fifth rounders isn’t exactly a sexy rebuild.