NICHOLAS MERKLEY
North American Skater - Kelowna, WHL
Final Rank: 23 Midterm Rank: 13
Position: Center Shoots: Right
Height: 5' 10" Weight: 191
Born: May 23, 1997 Hometown: Calgary, Alta.
Born in: Calgary, AB, CAN
Drafted: 2015: ARI (1st Round / 30th Overall) 

• Merkley helped the Rockets win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as Western Hockey League champions for the fourth time in franchise history, leading all players with 22 assists and placing third with 27 points (5-22—27) in 19 postseason outings. He also collected five points (3-2—5) at the 2015 Memorial Cup to guide Kelowna to the championship game before falling to Oshawa.

• During the 2014-15 regular season, Merkley led the Rockets and finished sixth in the WHL with 90 points (20-70—90) in 72 games to help the club finish atop the Western Conference.

• Merkley won WHL Rookie of the Year honors in 2013-14 after finishing third among rookies with 58 points (25-33—58) in 66 games as a 16-year-old.

• His most memorable hockey moment is winning gold with Canada at the 2014 Ivan Hlinka Memorial, where he served as an assistant captain. Merkley also wore an “A” and tallied five points (2-3—5) at the 2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, helping Team Pacific capture silver.

• His older brother, Jay, played the last four seasons in the WHL with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Swift Current Broncos.

• Merkley spent the summer after his WHL rookie season training alongside Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers and Mike Green of the Washington Capitals.

• He first skated at age two on Lake Bonavista in Calgary.


NEWS

MERKLEY GETTING AHEAD BY WATCHING, LISTENING TO OTHERS (click here)

FAVORITES

NHL team: Chicago Blackhawks
NHL player: Patrick Sharp
Shootout move: "Five-hole deke"
Goal celebration: "Finger point"
Video game: NHL 15
Movie: Fury
TV show: Dexter
Actor: Brad Pitt
Musician: Keith Urban
Website: NHL.com
Sport (other than hockey): Tennis
Athlete (non-hockey): LeBron James

STATISTICS

SEASON TEAM LEAGUE GP G A P PIM
2023-2024 MINSK RUSSIA 65 16 16 32 55
2022-2023 MINSK RUSSIA 67 20 20 40 88
2021-2022 SAN JOSE AHL 43 11 25 36 28
2021-2022 HARTFORD AHL 16 5 5 10 10
2021-2022 SAN JOSE NHL 9 1 2 3 0
2020-2021 NEW JERSEY NHL 27 2 8 10 7
2020-2021 ASSAT FINLAND 19 4 9 13 33
2020-2021 BINGHAMTON (AHL) DEFUNCT 5 1 2 3 4
2019-2020 BINGHAMTON (AHL) DEFUNCT 28 8 11 19 16
2019-2020 TUCSON AHL 26 3 13 16 10
2019-2020 NEW JERSEY NHL 4 1 1 2 2
2017-2018 ARIZONA NHL 1 0 0 0 2
2016-2017 KELOWNA WHL 63 23 40 63 73
2015-2016 KELOWNA WHL 43 17 31 48 44
2014-2015 KELOWNA WHL 72 20 70 90 79
2014-2015 CAN U18 (Ivan Hlinka Memorial 2014) ITLTOUR 5 0 4 4 8
2013-2014 KELOWNA WHL 66 25 33 58 46
2013-2014 PACIFIC (2014 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge) NATOUR 6 2 3 5 14