Nick Merkley
Signs with Yekaterinburg
Nick Merkley was the closest NHL player to return to the New Jersey Devils in the trade that sent Taylor Hall to the Arizona Coyotes. Of course, he wasn’t nearly the best player. That ended up being Dawson Mercer, who was the player the Devils got with their first-round pick that was in the deal. Kevin Bahl was also wildly better than Merkley. Still, at one point, Merkley had high hopes.
Merkley played 31 games with the Devils, but the former first-round pick didn’t really do anything of note. He scored three total goals over two seasons and had 12 total points. He was traded to the San Jose Sharks, and then his career became one of travel. After trying to catch on with the New York Rangers franchise (only to get stuck in the AHL again), he signed with Dynamo Minsk in the 2022 offseason. There, he had his first professional 20-goal season.
This offseason, he moved on to Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, signing a two-year contract with the franchise out of the Sverdlovsk Region. That shows a commitment to continuing his career in Russia.
Merkley might be the only player on this list outside Butcher who could make his way back to North America. Not only is he securing contracts in the KHL, but he’s performing better there than he had in the NHL or AHL. If anything, if he wants to come back to North America, he can always play for an AHL deal that pays him pretty well.