Nick Merkley

Nick Merkley
Merkley with the Roadrunners 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 (P)
Cur. team		 Arizona Coyotes
Tucson Roadrunners (AHL)
NHL Draft 30th overall, 2015
Arizona Coyotes
Playing career 2017–present

Nicholas Merkley (born May 23, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is currently playing with the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect for the Arizona Coyotes of 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.

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]

International play

Merkley helped Team Canada capture the gold medal at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.[9]

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 — — — — —
NHL totals 1 0 0 0 2 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2014 Canada Pacific U17 2nd, silver medalist(s) 6 2 3 5 14
2014 Canada IH18 1st, gold medalist(s) 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 [10]
Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament Gold Medal 2014 [11]
CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game 2015 [12]
WHL (West) Second All-Star Team 2015 [13]
CHL Memorial Cup All-Star Team 2015 [14]
American Hockey League All-Star Game 2018 [8]

References

  1. ↑ "Merkley Rockets' next top NHL draft pick". Sportsnet.ca. 2015-03-12. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  2. ↑ "Kelowna Rockets rookie Nick Merkley blossoming quickly". Yahoo! Sports. 2015-02-14. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  3. ↑ "Early draft watch includes Rockets trio". okanagansportpage.com. 2014-11-14. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  4. ↑ "Kelowna's Nick Merkley proves cream rises to the top for NHL draft". Yahoo! Sports. 2015-06-27. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  5. ↑ "Coyotes sign Merkley to entry-level contract". Arizona Coyotes. 2015-09-03. Retrieved 2015-09-03.
  6. ↑ "Merkley's NHL debut memorable despite Arizona's loss". kelownanow.com. December 19, 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "ROSTERS ANNOUNCED FOR 2018 AHL ALL-STAR CLASSIC". theahl.com. Springfield, Mass. January 4, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  8. 1 2 Layman, Matt (January 4, 2018). "Coyotes prospects Dylan Strome, Nick Merkley make AHL All-Star team". arizonasports.com. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Merkley helps team Canada u18's claim gold". Kelowna Rockets. 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
  10. ↑ "Nick Merkley vaults into lead scoring race". Calgary Herald. 2014-04-01. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  11. ↑ "NHL draft prospect Nick Merkley is making a statement". The Hockey News. 2015-02-03. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
  12. ↑ "Rockets forward selected to Prospects Game". kelownacapnews.com. 2015-06-01. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  13. ↑ "Bowey, Chartier, Merkley, Morrissey named to All-Star teams". Kelowna Rockets. 2015-04-01. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  14. ↑ "Memorial Cup awards and All-Stars". Memorial Cup. 2015-06-01. Retrieved 2015-06-02.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Dylan Strome		 Arizona Coyotes first round draft pick
2015		 Succeeded by
Clayton Keller


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