To close out 2023, the Boston Bruins added another NHL debut to their list of debuts made in the last year. With Matt Poitras playing in World Juniors, a spot has opened up at center on Boston’s roster. The front office and coaching staff have been making different adjustments to fill in the hole, and Georgii Merkulov is the latest guy to get a shot.
While he has not registered a point so far in his two NHL games, Merkulov did “a lot of good things” (Stiefel, Keagan. “Bruins’ Georgii Merkulov Does ‘Lot of Good Things’ in NHL Debut. NESN. 30 Dec. 2023.) With his good performance, expect him to stick around for the next week leading up to Poitras’ return.
Merkulov’s Road to North American Hockey
Merkulov was born on Oct. 10, 2000 in Ryazan, Russia. The 5-foot-11 forward began his juniors career playing for CSKA Moskva in Russia’s U16 team in 2015-16, before moving up to their U17 and U18 teams the following season.
In 2017-18, he joined Kapitan Stupino in the Junior Hockey League (MHL or JHL), one of the major junior hockey leagues in Europe, with teams primarily based in Russia. All but one of the teams are feeders into the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and the All-Russian Hockey League (VHL), the first and second ranked hockey leagues in Russia. In his first season, he appeared in 34 games and registered 13 points. The following season he played in 64 games and had 46 points, including 22 goals.
Merkulov became NHL Entry Draft eligible in 2018, but went undrafted. He was once again passed over in 2019, and then made some changes in the 2019-20 season. He played 10 games in the MHL for Kapitan Stupino again and also made his debut in the VHL playing for HK Tambov for six games. That season also saw him make the move from European hockey to North American hockey. He joined the United States Hockey League (USHL), the highest major junior league in the US, playing for the Youngstown Phantoms.
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It was a sharp adjustment, but one Merkulov seemed to take to quickly on the ice. In his first 36 games in North America for the Phantoms, he recorded six goals and 33 points. It may have not been the typical path of a young player, but he certainly still found his way.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Merkulov played for one more season in the USHL in 2020-21, registering 14 goals and 40 points in 38 games. His impressive play in juniors got him the attention of the NCAA, and he committed to playing for Ohio State University, where he overlapped with Bruins’ teammate Mason Lohrei.
It was at Ohio State where Merkulov really began to excel and get the attention of NHL teams after going largely unnoticed during his initial draft eligibility. The forward only played one NCAA season, but he certainly made his mark on the program. He had 34 points in 36 games, sharing a conference with teams such as Michigan (which had Matty Beniers, Owen Power, Luke Hughes, and now Bruins teammate Johnny Beecher, on its roster). He led the team in scoring with fellow freshman, Lohrei, coming in second.
He led all NCAA freshman with 20 goals in 2021-22, was an unanimous pick to the Big Ten All-Freshman team, and was selected for the First Team All-Big Ten team. In addition to leading all freshmen, he was second amongst skaters in the Big Ten for goals. It was certainly an incredible, breakout season that saw him garner a lot of interest from NHL teams. The Bruins, though, were able to win out, signing him to a three-year entry-level contract.
Success in Providence
After Ohio State’s 2021-22 season came to an end and Merkulov signed his contract, he made his professional hockey debut for the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL). He played in eight games, registering a goal and four assists. He also made an appearance in one playoff game that postseason.
Merkulov continued to grow as a player, rising to the challenges of playing professional hockey. In 2022-23, he appeared in 67 games for Providence. He had 24 goals and 55 points in 67 games, quickly establishing himself as one of the Bruins’ top prospects. He was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team and became a dark horse candidate to make the NHL in 2023-24.
Merkulov had a decent 2023-24 training camp, but still had areas to work on. He went back down to Providence where he set out to work on improving his defensive responsibility and forecheck. He once again put together an impressive run in the AHL. Through 31 games in the 2023-24 season so far, the 23-year-old has 14 goals and 30 points. It’s been clear that it would only be a matter of time before he got his shot at the NHL, and this past week, it came to fruition.
What Merkulov Brings to the Bruins
Merkulov is rounding into a complete, two-way forward. While he still doesn’t have the complete trust of the coaching staff — as evident by their decision not to play him down the stretch during his debut game against the New Jersey Devils when the team was trying to solidify the win — there are still a lot of positives to take away from his two games so far.
Above all else, Merkulov is a goal scorer as he has shown in his time with Providence, which is something the Bruins struggled with a bit in December. While he most likely won’t stay up past this next week, if he can register a few points in their upcoming games against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Tampa Bay Lightning, it could go a long way in helping him get another look in Boston at another point this season.
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While this may not be the season he becomes a full-time NHL player, Merkulov has cemented himself as the team’s top prospect in recent seasons for a reason. He has shown throughout his young career so far he can adapt, whether it’s to playing in North America, the NCAA, or AHL. It feels like it will only be a matter of time before he brings his scoring touch to Boston, and the team will be better for it. He could really become a solid, middle-six forward who can play both down the middle at center and out at wing.
