Dakota Mermis

Dakota Mermis (born January 5, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman currently playing for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Dakota Mermis
Mermis with the Springfield Falcons in 2015
Born (1994-01-05) January 5, 1994
Alton, Illinois, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 196 lb (89 kg; 14 st 0 lb)
Position Defense
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Minnesota Wild
Arizona Coyotes
New Jersey Devils
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2015–present

Playing career

Undrafted, Mermis originally played in the United States Hockey League with the Lincoln Stars before developing within the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in the 2010–11 season. He left the U.S. Junior program the following season in linking up with the Green Bay Gamblers in his last season in the USHL.

Mermis committed and began his freshman year of college hockey at the University of Denver in the 2012–13 season, before leaving the Pioneers after just 19 games to progress to major junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League with the London Knights and Oshawa Generals.[1]

Following the conclusion of his major junior career with the Memorial Cup winning Generals after the 2014–15 season, Mermis' unconventional development path was rewarded as he was signed as a free agent to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Arizona Coyotes on July 2, 2015.[2]

In the 2017–18 season, having played in the opening 7 games of the season with AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, Mermis received his first recall by the Coyotes on November 1, 2017.[3] With an injury to fellow Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, Mermis made his NHL debut the following day in a defeat to the Buffalo Sabres.[4]

Having appeared in 10 NHL games with the Coyotes during his four seasons within the organization, Mermis left as a free agent to sign a one-year, two-way $700,000 contract with the New Jersey Devils on July 1, 2019.[5] He initially joined the Binghamton Devils in the AHL to begin the 2019–20 season, leading the blueline in scoring with 19 points through 53 games. Recalled by New Jersey to the NHL, Mermis scored his first career NHL goal against the St. Louis Blues on March 6, 2020. He registered his first multi-point game the following night against the New York Rangers. Mermis appearing in 10 games with the Devils, posting four points, before their season was ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mermis left the Devils as a free agent after the season and signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Minnesota Wild on October 9, 2020.[6]

Mermis won the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award while playing for the Iowa Wild in the 2021–22 season.[7]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 St. Louis Amateur Blues T1EHL 48 11 26 37 76 — — — — —
2009–10 Lincoln Stars USHL 2 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2010–11 U.S. National Development Team USHL 36 4 4 8 53 2 0 0 0 0
2011–12 Green Bay Gamblers USHL 60 5 22 27 98 12 0 1 1 20
2012–13 University of Denver WCHA 19 1 3 4 14 — — — — —
2012–13 London Knights OHL 27 2 9 11 34 21 1 3 4 21
2013–14 London Knights OHL 66 5 20 25 76 9 1 3 4 12
2014–15 London Knights OHL 36 1 10 11 36 — — — — —
2014–15 Oshawa Generals OHL 30 5 14 19 50 21 1 14 15 14
2015–16 Springfield Falcons AHL 63 3 10 13 58 — — — — —
2015–16 Rapid City Rush ECHL 5 1 2 3 6 — — — — —
2016–17 Tucson Roadrunners AHL 67 2 10 12 75 — — — — —
2017–18 Tucson Roadrunners AHL 59 2 17 19 45 9 3 2 5 11
2017–18 Arizona Coyotes NHL 9 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2018–19 Tucson Roadrunners AHL 62 3 21 24 49 — — — — —
2018–19 Arizona Coyotes NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2019–20 Binghamton Devils AHL 53 3 16 19 23 — — — — —
2019–20 New Jersey Devils NHL 10 1 3 4 4 — — — — —
2020–21 Minnesota Wild NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2021–22 Iowa Wild AHL 59 3 21 24 86 — — — — —
2021–22 Minnesota Wild NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2022–23 Iowa Wild AHL 63 5 21 26 73 2 0 1 1 2
2022–23 Minnesota Wild NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
NHL totals 27 1 3 4 4 — — — — —

International
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2011 United States U17 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 0 1 1 4
Junior totals 5 0 1 1 4

Awards and honors
Award Year
USHL
USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game 2012
Clark Cup (Green Bay Gamblers) 2012
OHL
J. Ross Robertson Cup (London Knights) 2013
J. Ross Robertson Cup (Oshawa Generals) 2015
Memorial Cup (Oshawa Generals) 2015
AHL
Yanick Dupre Memorial Award 2022

References
  1. "Altons' Dakota Mermis called up the NHL's Arizona Coyotes". The Telegraph. 2017-11-02. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  2. "Coyotes sign Dakota Mermis to entry-level contract". Arizona Coyotes. 2015-07-02. Retrieved 2015-07-02.
  3. "Coyotes recall Domingue and Mermis". Arizona Coyotes. 2017-11-02. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  4. "Defenseman Dakota Mermis ready to make debut thursday". AZ Central. 2017-11-02. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
  5. "Devils sign defenseman Dakota Mermis". New Jersey Devils. July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  6. "Wild signs Cramarossa and Mermis to one-year, two-way contracts". Minnesota Wild. October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  7. "Wild's Mermis named winner of Yanick Dupré Memorial Award | TheAHL.com". Retrieved 2022-05-27.
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