Nick Merkley

Nicholas Merkley (born May 23, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward. He is currently playing with the New Jersey Devils in the National Hockey League (NHL). Merkley was rated as a top prospect who was widely projected to be a first round selection in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.[1] In the said Draft, he was selected 30th overall by the Arizona Coyotes, the final pick of the opening round. He played in one game with the Coyotes before being traded to the Devils in 2019.

Nick Merkley
Merkley in 2018
Born (1997-05-23) May 23, 1997
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 191 lb (87 kg; 13 st 9 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams		 New Jersey Devils
Arizona Coyotes
Ässät
NHL Draft 30th overall, 2015
Arizona Coyotes
Playing career 2017–present

Playing career

Merkley was selected ninth overall by the Kelowna Rockets in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft. Following a strong first season with the Rockets,[2] he was selected as the 2013–14 WHL Rookie of the Year and awarded the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy,[3] and during the 2014–15 WHL season he was rewarded for his outstanding play when he was selected to skate in the 2015 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game[4] and was also named to the 2014–15 WHL (West) Second All-Star Team after scoring 20 goals and 90 points in 72 games.

On September 3, 2015, Merkley agreed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Arizona Coyotes.[5]

He made his NHL debut on December 19, 2017, against the Florida Panthers.[6] He played 13 minutes 30 seconds of ice time in a 3–2 loss. He was sent back down to the AHL shortly after. On January 4, 2018, Merkley was selected for the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic Game in Utica, New York.[7][8]

During the 2019–20 season while with the Tucson Roadrunners, Merkley was traded by the Coyotes to the New Jersey Devils in a deal involving star forward Taylor Hall on December 16, 2019.[9] Merkley joined the Devils' AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Devils, and was instantly productive in collecting 8 goals and 19 points in 28 regular season games. He was later recalled by the New Jersey Devils, adding a goal and an assist in four games, before the regular season was abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As an impending restricted free agent with the Devils and with the team unable to qualify in the return to play format, Merkley in order to stay in game shape signed a one-year contract with Finnish club, Ässät of the Liiga, on August 27, 2020. His contract included an NHL-out clause until commencement of the delayed 2020–21 North American season.[10]

International play

Merkley helped Team Canada capture the gold medal at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.[11]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2012–13 Calgary Buffaloes AMHL 30 14 19 33 95 11 4 6 10 16
2012–13 Kelowna Rockets WHL 1 0 0 0 0 7 0 3 3 0
2013–14 Kelowna Rockets WHL 66 25 33 58 46 14 4 13 17 12
2014–15 Kelowna Rockets WHL 72 20 70 90 79 19 5 22 27 18
2015–16 Kelowna Rockets WHL 43 17 31 48 44 — — — — —
2016–17 Kelowna Rockets WHL 63 23 40 63 73 17 6 13 19 22
2017–18 Tucson Roadrunners AHL 38 18 21 39 22 — — — — —
2017–18 Arizona Coyotes NHL 1 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2018–19 Tucson Roadrunners AHL 45 10 24 34 26 — — — — —
2019–20 Tucson Roadrunners AHL 26 3 13 16 10 — — — — —
2019–20 Binghamton Devils AHL 28 8 11 19 16 — — — — —
2019–20 New Jersey Devils NHL 4 1 1 2 2 — — — — —
2020–21 Ässät Liiga 19 4 9 13 33 — — — — —
NHL totals 5 1 1 2 4 — — — — —

International
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2014 Canada Pacific U17 6 2 3 5 14
2014 Canada IH18 5 0 4 4 8
Junior totals 11 2 7 9 22

Awards and honours
Honours Year
Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy – WHL Rookie of the Year 2013–14 [12]
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament Gold Medal 2014 [13]
CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game 2015 [14]
WHL (West) Second All-Star Team 2015 [15]
CHL Memorial Cup All-Star Team 2015 [16]
American Hockey League All-Star Game 2018 [8]

References
  1. "Merkley Rockets' next top NHL draft pick". Sportsnet.ca. March 12, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  2. "Kelowna Rockets rookie Nick Merkley blossoming quickly". Yahoo! Sports. February 14, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  3. "Early draft watch includes Rockets trio". okanagansportpage.com. November 14, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  4. "Kelowna's Nick Merkley proves cream rises to the top for NHL draft". Yahoo! Sports. June 27, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  5. "Coyotes sign Merkley to entry-level contract". Arizona Coyotes. September 3, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  6. "Merkley's NHL debut memorable despite Arizona's loss". kelownanow.com. December 19, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  7. "ROSTERS ANNOUNCED FOR 2018 AHL ALL-STAR CLASSIC". theahl.com. Springfield, Mass. January 4, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  8. Layman, Matt (January 4, 2018). "Coyotes prospects Dylan Strome, Nick Merkley make AHL All-Star team". arizonasports.com. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  9. "RELEASE: Devils acquire picks and players in exchange for Hall, Speers". nhl.com. December 15, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  10. "Ässät announce first signing with Nick Merkley" (in Finnish). Ässät. August 27, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  11. "Merkley helps team Canada u18's claim gold". Kelowna Rockets. October 12, 2014. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  12. "Nick Merkley vaults into lead scoring race". Calgary Herald. April 1, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
  13. "NHL draft prospect Nick Merkley is making a statement". The Hockey News. February 3, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  14. "Rockets forward selected to Prospects Game". kelownacapnews.com. June 1, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  15. "Bowey, Chartier, Merkley, Morrissey named to All-Star teams". Kelowna Rockets. April 1, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  16. "Memorial Cup awards and All-Stars". Memorial Cup. June 1, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Dylan Strome		 Arizona Coyotes first round draft pick
2015		 Succeeded by
Clayton Keller
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.