If you want to get a sense of the meticulous detail that Minnesota defenseman Jon Merrill puts into all things hockey, there is a backyard rink in the western suburbs that stands as a testament to this game and how much it means.

“We’ve got a good setup. It took a little while,” Merrill boasted about his family’s personal ice sheet, which neighbors say is a sight to behold. “Some weather issues after Christmas there, but this cold weather’s been perfect for it, so we’re ready to go. We flood most nights.”

Jon and Jessica Merrill’s four daughters can be seen there often, learning the tricks of the trade that have helped their dad go from youth hockey in the Detroit suburbs to USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program to the University of Michigan and, now, to an NHL career that pays him $1.2 million per year.

But earlier in the 2024-25 season, Merrill, 32, was the odd man out on the Wild blue line some nights when everyone under contract was ambulatory and available. In November, Merrill was a healthy scratch seven times in a 12-game stretch. Then the injury bug came to visit back-end mainstays like Jake Middleton, Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon and, more recently, Brock Faber. Merrill has taken on a bigger role — partially out of necessity and partially because he fits the team’s style.

In a recent come-from-behind win versus St. Louis, Merrill contributed nearly 19 on-ice minutes and scored his first goal of the season, drawing deserved praise from his coach.

“Johnny Merrill’s coming in and he’s playing really well this season from the start of training camp until now,” said John Hynes, who first coached Merrill when the Michigan native was a teen, playing for the U.S. National U17 team. “Worked his way (onto) the penalty kill. He’s done a good job there. There’s a defenseman that was in and out of the lineup earlier, now he’s called upon to play regularly, and he’s coming through.”

Merrill joked that it had been so long since his last goal – he has scored 23 times in more than 650 NHL games – that he’d almost forgotten how to celebrate.

“It’s been a while,” he said with a broad grin. “I didn’t know I’d ever score again. So to see one go in, it definitely is kind of a relief.”

His resiliency, calm demeanor and adaptability are among the traits that college recruiters saw in Merrill when he was choosing where to take the next step.

“Nothing seems to rattle him. A lot of players get so caught up with being scratched or moved down in the lineup, or even being sent down for a game. They get so worried about things you can’t control,” said former Michigan coach Mel Pearson, who recruited Merrill to Ann Arbor. “Jon, even from a young age, always seemed like nothing bothered him. He might have been going crazy internally, but he was just a steady Eddie whether you were ahead or behind, late in the game or early in the game.”

Ironically, Merrill’s first trip to Xcel Energy Center was one to forget, as Michigan fell to Minnesota-Duluth in overtime of the 2011 NCAA title game. Merrill contributed seven goals and 18 assists in 42 games as a Wolverines freshman that season.

After three seasons of college hockey, Merrill signed with New Jersey, which had picked him in the second round of the 2010 NHL Draft. He played for Hynes again with the Devils, and had stints with Vegas, Detroit and Montreal before landing in Minnesota in 2021.

In addition to meticulous maintenance of their backyard rink, fierce support of the LGBTQ+ community is among the passions that drives Jon and Jessica Merrill. Calling the freedom to love whom they choose a basic human rights issue and offering meet-and-greet opportunities for queer youth in the Twin Cities in the past, the Merrills were named Allies of the Year by Twin Cities Pride in 2024.

On the ice, Merrill’s long reach and experience have allowed him to take on a bigger role and fill the gap in the absence of several regulars on the back end. Similar to changing ice conditions on a backyard rink that is at the whims of Mother Nature, the healthy Wild players refuse to talk about what they’re missing, focusing instead on what they have, and how to keep defying expectations.

“All of us at this level, we’ve been doing it for so long and on various different teams, in different positions,” Merrill said. “We’re hockey players. You tell us where to go, we’ll go over the boards and do the job for you or at least try to. That’s sort of the mentality we have is any time our number is called. We’re ready to rock.”

Related Articles

Wild buried in an Avalanche of Colorado offense

Some optimism on the injury front as Kirill Kaprizov resumes skating

Wild debut likely as David Jiricek is recalled from Iowa

Dramatic Wild win comes with a price as Brock Faber is injured

Wild excited for the future after Zeev Buium’s World Juniors heroics