Jon Merrill
American defenseman and original Vegas Golden Knight.
Last updated
Jon Merrill is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who most recently played for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the second round, 38th overall, of the 2010 NHL entry draft and later became an original member of the Vegas Golden Knights after being chosen in the 2017 NHL expansion draft.
Background
Merrill began playing ice hockey at age four after his family moved from Oklahoma City to Grand Blanc, Michigan. He played youth hockey with the Detroit Little Caesars and appeared at the 2004 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament.
As a childhood fan of the Detroit Red Wings, he served as a flag bearer during the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs. He spent two years with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program before playing NCAA college hockey with the Michigan Wolverines. Merrill was suspended for the first 12 games of the 2011–12 season by the University of Michigan for violating team rules.
Merrill signed a three-year entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils in March 2013. In his NHL debut on November 3, 2013, he fell into the boards less than five minutes into the game, sustaining severe facial lacerations and a concussion. He scored his first NHL goal on February 7, 2014, a game winner in overtime against Ilya Bryzgalov of the Edmonton Oilers, becoming the first Devil to score his first NHL goal in overtime.
Selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL expansion draft, Merrill spent three seasons with the club and signed a two-year, $2.75 million contract extension in January 2018. He later played for the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens (helping them reach the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals), and Minnesota Wild, signing a three-year, $3.6 million extension with the Wild in January 2022.
Career statistics and honours
Medals
- Gold 2009 IIHF World U18 Championships
- Gold 2010 IIHF World U18 Championships
- Bronze 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2008–09 | U.S. NTDP U17 | USDP | 24 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2008–09 | U.S. NTDP U18 | USDP | 19 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2008–09 | U.S. NTDP U18 | NAHL | 26 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2009–10 | U.S. NTDP Juniors | USHL | 22 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2009–10 | U.S. NTDP U17 | USDP | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2009–10 | U.S. NTDP U18 | USDP | 56 | 5 | 27 | 32 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2010–11 | CCHA | 42 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2011–12 | University of Michigan | CCHA | 19 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2012–13 | University of Michigan | CCHA | 21 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2012–13 | Albany Devils | AHL | 12 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2013–14 | Albany Devils | AHL | 15 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 2013–14 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 52 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2014–15 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 66 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2015–16 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 47 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — |
| New Jersey Devils | NHL | 51 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2017–18 | Vegas Golden Knights | NHL | 34 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 2018–19 | Vegas Golden Knights | NHL | 57 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 53 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019–20 | Vegas Golden Knights | NHL | 49 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020–21 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 36 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2020–21 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 69 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022–23 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 73 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2023–24 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 65 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Minnesota Wild | NHL | 70 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| NHL totals | 682 | 24 | 91 | 115 | 321 | 39 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | ||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | United States | U18 | Gold | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 2010 | United States | U18 | Gold | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2011 | United States | WJC | Bronze | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| 2012 | United States | WJC | 7th | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| 2022 | 4th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Junior totals | 25 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 12 | |||
| Senior totals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| College | ||
| NCAA All-Tournament Team | 2011 | |
Tables copied from the source article, totals included as the source gives them: Wikipedia: Jon Merrill (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wide tables scroll sideways.
More in Vegas Golden Knights Players
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Jon Merrill (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Statistics, medals and awards: the tables of the source article.
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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