Vegas Golden Knights Sign Defenseman Jon Merrill

Another day, another signing for the Vegas Golden Knights.

First of all, it’s always great to have so many free agents signed, sealed and delivered for next year already. The Vegas Golden Knights have to focus on scouting amateur players over the summer. And to do that, they need to sign their players first.

On Monday, general manager George McPhee announced a one-year extension for defenseman Deryk Engelland. His contract is worth a total of 1.5 million on the cap next year. Overall, a great deal for both parties involved.

With a bunch of free agents still unsigned, McPhee wants to work the phones with his players as much as possible. He wants to keep this group of guys together for as long as possible especially with the way they’re going right now. And on Tuesday, McPhee’s offseason plan got a little bit easier after extending another player.

On Tuesday, the Vegas Golden Knights announced they have agreed with Jon Merrill on a two-year deal. The agreement is worth $2.75 million over the next two seasons, and his average annual cap hit is 1.375 million. I see nothing to complain about here.

Whenever Merrill has taken the ice, he proved to be more than serviceable. Head Coach Gerard Gallant has praised Merrill for his work ethic and putting together some great practice sessions. He also scored a huge goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins when emotions were riding high that night.

He did a fantastic job filling in for defensemen Luca Sbisa when needed. The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma native may only have one goal and one assist through 14 games this year, but he’s been sound in his defensive zone. That alone makes up for his lack of offense.

Merrill’s only 25 years old so he may potentially develop more to his game. He’s very much worth keeping around if the Knights don’t expect Sbisa back next year. We’ll see how that situation pans out as time passes along.

Next: Vegas Golden Knights: The Importance Of The Deryk Engelland Signing

All in all, this is an exceptional deal for the Vegas Golden Knights. It seems like we get closer every day of seeing what this team will look like next year. So far, not much roster turnover but it’s evident that McPhee has a plan.