Hockey Terminal
Be a GM

← All players

Photo of Jon Merrill

Jon Merrill

#4 · Defence · Minnesota Wild

Born Feb 3, 1992 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA · 6'3", 204 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 38th overall in 2010 by NJD (round 2)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2020-21. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Andrej Sekera DAL · 5 P in 46 GP Andy Greene NYI · 5 P in 55 GP Niklas Hjalmarsson ARI · 5 P in 41 GP Robert Bortuzzo STL · 5 P in 40 GP Ben Hutton TOR · 5 P in 38 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

051015202013-14: 11 points1113-142014-15: 14 points1414-152015-16: 5 points515-162016-17: 6 points616-172017-18: 3 points317-182018-19: 15 points1518-192019-20: 7 points719-202020-21: 5 points520-212021-22: 20 points2021-222022-23: 12 points1222-232023-24: 11 points1123-242024-25: 6 points624-25

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2013-14 NJD 52 2 9 11 -3 12 45 27 0.21 $840K
2014-15 NJD 66 2 12 14 -14 24 47 59 0.21 $840K
2015-16 NJD 47 1 4 5 -15 28 30 48 0.11 $840K
2016-17 NJD 51 1 5 6 -9 24 48 39 0.12 $1.138M
2017-18 VGK 34 1 2 3 7 22 30 35 0.09 $1.138M
2018-19 VGK 57 3 12 15 16 53 72 71 0.26 $1.375M
2019-20 VGK 49 2 5 7 9 32 37 51 0.14 $1.375M
2020-21 DET 36 0 5 5 2 12 35 24 0.14 $925K
2020-21 MTL 13 0 0 0 -11 4 6 10 0.00
2021-22 MIN 69 4 16 20 15 22 59 46 0.29 $850K
2022-23 MIN 73 2 10 12 -2 38 43 47 0.16 $1.2M
2023-24 MIN 65 4 7 11 0 30 42 37 0.17 $1.2M
2024-25 MIN 70 2 4 6 -8 20 47 41 0.09 $1.2M
12 seasons Career 682 24 91 115 -13 321 541 535 0.17

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2017-18 VGK 8 0 0 0 2 10 2 9 0.00
2018-19 VGK 7 0 0 0 -1 0 5 9 0.00
2019-20 VGK 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 1.00
2020-21 MTL 13 0 0 0 -4 0 6 11 0.00
2021-22 MIN 6 0 1 1 -6 0 7 3 0.17
2022-23 MIN 2 0 0 0 1 2 3 1 0.00
2024-25 MIN 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.00
7 seasons Playoffs 39 0 2 2 -7 12 24 36 0.05

2020-21 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
49 0 5 5 -9 16 41 34 0.10 0.0 18:15

Contract

$925KCap hitends in 2021, then UFA
$185KCap dollars per point5 points in 49 games
$567KCap dollars per goal above replacement1.6 goals above replacement
$2.4MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$1.4MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 633 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Detroit Red Wings on Oct 9, 2020, as a new contract: 1 year and $925K, beginning in 2020-21. It runs through 2020-21, so this is its last season, after which he is an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2020-21 $925K $925K $0 $925K

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jan 11, 2022 Minnesota Wild Extension 2022-23 to 2024-25 3 $3.6M $1.2M
Jul 29, 2021 Minnesota Wild New contract 2021-22 to 2021-22 1 $850K $850K
Oct 9, 2020 Detroit Red Wings New contract 2020-21 to 2020-21 1 $925K $925K
Jan 16, 2018 Vegas Golden Knights Extension 2018-19 to 2019-20 2 $2.75M $1.375M
Jul 1, 2016 New Jersey Devils New contract 2016-17 to 2017-18 2 $2.275M $1.138M
Apr 30, 2013 New Jersey Devils Entry-level 2013-14 to 2015-16 3 $2.7M $840K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2020-21 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2020-21 playoff analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

-1.0Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
-0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-1.6Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence-1.1Even-strength defence0.0Power play0.0Penalty kill-0.7Penalties+0.2

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. A playoff run is too short to rank anyone on. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-4-20242013-142015-162017-182019-202021-222023-24Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

44.9Corsi for %120 attempts for, 147 against
-4.8CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
40.0Expected goals for %4.3 expected for, 6.5 against
-8.7xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
45.5Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
25.0Goals for %2 for, 6 against
94.6PDO2.9% shooting + 91.7% saves
13Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 147 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Jon Merrill · Brett Kulak434:3145.032.11-0
Jon Merrill · Joel Edmundson1034:1135.848.40-1
Ben Chiarot · Jon Merrill1031:1836.528.00-1
Shea Weber · Jon Merrill926:1646.045.40-2

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.1Expected goalsfrom 7 unblocked attempts
-0.1Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.04 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 1.6% chance per attempt3rd
Finishing -0.1 goals above expected53rdOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 59 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest in these playoffs.

00.20.40.60.81Expected 0.1Goals 0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took in these playoffs, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
May 12, 2021 vs EDM L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 17:53
May 10, 2021 vs EDM L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 13:18
May 8, 2021 @ TOR L 2-3 0 0 0 -2 0 0 2 14:52
May 6, 2021 @ TOR L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 15:19
May 5, 2021 @ OTT L 1-5 0 0 0 -1 2 2 1 16:35
May 3, 2021 vs TOR W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13:17
May 1, 2021 vs OTT W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 14:18
Apr 30, 2021 vs WPG W 5-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 12:31
Apr 28, 2021 vs TOR L 1-4 0 0 0 -2 2 0 2 15:46
Apr 26, 2021 @ CGY W 2-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 13:46
Apr 24, 2021 @ CGY L 2-5 0 0 0 -3 0 0 0 09:43
Apr 23, 2021 @ CGY L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17:07
Apr 21, 2021 @ EDM W 4-3 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 11:32
Apr 8, 2021 vs NSH L 1-7 0 0 0 -3 0 2 0 19:02
Apr 6, 2021 vs NSH L 2-3 (SO) 0 1 1 2 0 2 1 19:09
Apr 4, 2021 @ TBL W 5-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20:15
Apr 3, 2021 @ TBL L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22:46
Apr 1, 2021 @ FLA L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 19:21
Mar 30, 2021 @ FLA L 1-4 0 0 0 -2 2 1 0 17:40
Mar 28, 2021 vs CBJ W 4-1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 22:54
Mar 27, 2021 vs CBJ W 3-1 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 20:26
Mar 25, 2021 @ NSH L 1-7 0 0 0 -2 0 2 0 18:47
Mar 23, 2021 @ NSH L 0-2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 0 15:23
Mar 20, 2021 vs DAL L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 15:53
Mar 18, 2021 vs DAL W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16:25
Mar 16, 2021 vs CAR W 4-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 14:20
Mar 14, 2021 vs CAR L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 16:44
Mar 11, 2021 vs TBL W 6-4 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 19:47
Mar 9, 2021 vs TBL L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 22:04
Mar 4, 2021 @ CAR L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 18:46
Mar 2, 2021 @ CBJ L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 18:47
Feb 28, 2021 @ CHI L 2-7 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 22:05
Feb 27, 2021 @ CHI W 5-3 0 0 0 2 0 1 3 19:47
Feb 25, 2021 vs NSH W 5-2 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 19:32
Feb 23, 2021 vs NSH L 0-2 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 20:28
Feb 20, 2021 vs FLA W 2-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 19:06
Feb 19, 2021 vs FLA L 2-7 0 0 0 -1 0 2 2 21:01
Feb 17, 2021 vs CHI L 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 23:34
Feb 15, 2021 vs CHI L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -2 0 1 0 20:30
Feb 13, 2021 @ NSH W 4-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 21:52
Feb 11, 2021 @ NSH L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 19:23
Feb 9, 2021 @ FLA L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 20:39
Feb 7, 2021 @ FLA W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 21:20
Feb 5, 2021 @ TBL L 1-3 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 21:29
Feb 3, 2021 @ TBL L 1-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22:10
Jan 19, 2021 vs CBJ W 3-2 (OT) 0 1 1 -1 0 1 1 20:34
Jan 18, 2021 vs CBJ L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 17:35
Jan 16, 2021 vs CAR W 4-2 0 0 0 2 0 1 2 19:17
Jan 14, 2021 vs CAR L 0-3 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 19:46