Dakota Mermis

Did You Know?

• Mermis was born in Alton, Illinois, to parents Bill and Jolene.
• His uncle Randall McDaniel was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Playing career

Undrafted, Mermis began his junior career in the United States Hockey League with the Lincoln Stars before joining the USA Hockey National Team Development Program for the 2010–11 season. He left the U.S. Junior program the following season to play for the Green Bay Gamblers in his final USHL season. Mermis committed to the University of Denver and played his freshman year in the 2012–13 season, but left the Pioneers after 19 games to move to major junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League with the London Knights and Oshawa Generals. After his major junior career ended with the Memorial Cup-winning Generals following the 2014–15 season, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Arizona Coyotes as a free agent on July 2, 2015. In the 2017–18 season, after playing the first seven games with the Coyotes' AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, Mermis received his first NHL recall on November 1, 2017. Due to an injury to defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, Mermis made his NHL debut the next day in a loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Over four seasons with the Coyotes organization, he appeared in 10 NHL games. He left as a free agent on July 1, 2019, signing a one-year, two-way $700,000 contract with the New Jersey Devils. He began the 2019–20 season with the Binghamton Devils in the AHL, leading the blueline in scoring with 19 points in 53 games. Recalled to the NHL, Mermis scored his first career NHL goal against the St. Louis Blues on March 6, 2020, and recorded his first multi-point game the following night against the New York Rangers. He played 10 games with the Devils, posting four points, before the season was ended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mermis left the Devils as a free agent and signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Minnesota Wild on October 9, 2020. While playing for the Wild's AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, he won the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award in the 2021–22 season.