KHL membership Avangard Omsk and 24-year-old Canadian defenseman Ryan Merkley have mutually agreed to terminate their contract, the membership introduced on Saturday. The contract was “as a result of participant’s family-related state of affairs.”
Household is a generally cited motive for terminating a KHL contract mid-season. Linden Vey additionally left Omsk in early November, formally “to handle household points” after which signed in Switzerland with Fribourg-Gottéron 10 days later. In January, Tony DeAngelo left SKA St. Petersburg for “household causes.”
Born in Oakville, Ont., Merkley performed junior hockey for the OHL’s Guelph Storm and had a spectacular 2017-18 season with 67 factors in 63 video games from the again finish, and was chosen to play for Canada that season at each the Ivan Hlinka Memorial and the IIHF U-18 World Championship. He was subsequently chosen within the first spherical, twenty first total, by the San Jose Sharks within the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
Whereas he adopted that up with two extra strong junior seasons, his offensive talents didn’t switch to the professionals, as he produced simply 53 complete factors over 129 AHL video games between 2019 and 2023. In 39 NHL video games with the Sharks in 2021-22, Merkley scored one aim and added 5 assists, eight penalty minutes, and was a minus-10.
Merkley spent all the 2022-23 within the minors break up between the San Jose and Colorado Avalanche organizations.
Merkley has performed virtually two full seasons within the KHL. Over a season and a half with Kunlun Pink Star, he produced 37 factors and 82 penalty minutes in 83 video games. Earlier this season, Merkley was traded from Kunlun to Omsk in trade for money. Merkley had 12 factors and 12 penalty minutes in 29 video games because the commerce.
Omsk at present sits sixth out of 12 groups within the KHL’s Jap Convention.
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