Benjamin Meyers (born November 15, 1998) is an American professional ice hockey

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for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). He formerly played for the Colorado Avalanche and

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

. He played college ice hockey at the University of Minnesota.

Playing career

Collegiate

Meyers joined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) University of Minnesota Golden Gophers from the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League (USHL) where he was an

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and helped the Force win the

Clark Cup The United States Hockey League began in 1961 as a semi-professional ice hockey league. Starting with the 1979–80 season, the league became a strictly Amateur league, and began awarding its champion the Clark Cup Trophy. All champions of the USHL ...

in 2018. In his first season with the Golden Gophers in 2019–20 he scored ten goals and 26 points in 37 games. He was named to the Big Ten All-Freshmen Team. In his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

season in 2020–21, Meyers was named an alternate captain. He scored 12 goals and 28 points in 31 games. In 2021–22, his junior year, Meyers was named the team's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He scored 17 points and 41 points in 34 games and was named as a Hobey Baker Award finalist, the first Golden Gopher to be a finalist since 2002. He scored his first

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against the Wisconsin Badgers on February 25, 2022. The Golden Gophers won the Big Ten Season Championship and appeared in the NCAA Frozen Four for the first time since 2014. Meyers was named to the Academic All-Big Ten, Academic All-District, Second Team All-America selection, 2021-22 Big Ten Player of the Year, First Team All-Big Ten selection and an NCAA All-Regional Team pick.

Professional

On April 13, 2022, Meyers signed a two-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He made his NHL debut on April 17, 2022, scoring his first NHL goal against Frederik Andersen in a 7–4 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. He finished the 2021–22 season with five games played and the single goal. Meyers began the 2022–23 season with Colorado, scoring a goal against the Minnesota Wild on his first return to the state on October 17, 2022. The Avalanche decided that Meyers needed more work and sent him to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, to work on some issues that were raised by Avalanche coach Jared Bednar. Meyers bounced between the NHL and AHL for the remainder of the season, getting into 39 games for the Avalanche scoring four goals and 6 goals and 24 points in 30 games for the Eagles. He also played in six of the Avalanche's seven playoff games. Meyers re-signed to a one-year contract with the Avalanche on July 26, 2023. Meyers was assigned to the Eagles to start the 2023–24 season. Meyers spent the season shuttling between the Eagles and Avalanche, appearing in nine NHL games, scoring one goal and 32 AHL games, scoring 11 goals and 25 points. On March 8, 2024, the Avalanche traded Meyers to the

in exchange for a

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fifth-round pick. He made his Ducks debut that night in a 6–2 loss to the Dallas Stars. He played out the remainder of the season with the Ducks, registering two assists through 14 appearances. As an unrestricted free agent from the Ducks, Meyers was signed to a one-year, $755,000 contract with the Seattle Kraken on July 1, 2024.

International play

Meyers was selected to represent the United States in the men's tournament at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

, alongside teammates Brock Faber and

Matthew Knies Matthew Knies ( ; born October 17, 2002) is an American professional ice hockey forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Knies was drafted 57th overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Playing c ...

. At the tournament, he scored two goals and four points, second on Team USA. On May 5, 2022, Meyers was named to the United States team to compete at the

2022 IIHF World Championship The 2022 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Finland from 13 to 29 May 2022, as the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany. The host cities of the World Championships were Tampere and Helsinki, ...

. He recorded four goals and four assists in ten games.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyers, Ben 1998 births Living people AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans American men's ice hockey forwards Anaheim Ducks players Colorado Avalanche players Colorado Eagles players Fargo Force players Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players from Minnesota Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players Olympic ice hockey players for the United States Undrafted National Hockey League players