What Jim Montgomery thought of Georgii Merkulov’s NHL debut with the Bruins
Merkulov logged 15:08 of ice time in his NHL debut during Boston's win over the Devils.
Georgii Merkulov’s path to the pros has been far from easy.
Despite being born in Ryazan, Russia, Merkulov spent most of his childhood growing up in Moscow — with his father, Gennady, selling the family’s apartment and moving to the sprawling city in search of greater on-ice opportunities for his son.
While his development in the Russian junior leagues stalled out, a 19-year-old Merkulov made the decision to pack his bag and fly to North America — spending two seasons with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms.
Amid the expected adjustments of settling in a new country nearly 5,000 miles from home, Merkulov elevated his stock as a viable NHL prospect. After three seasons in Ohio (including a collegiate campaign at Ohio State), Merkulov earned an entry-level contract with the Bruins.
And on Saturday night, the 23-year-old forward finally took to the ice in an NHL game.
“Enjoy every minute of it – it’s pretty simple,” Jim Montgomery said of his message to Merkulov ahead of Boston’s 5-2 win over the Devils. “It’s pretty special, a special time for you personally. You’re achieving your dreams since…I know he grew up in Russia but his dream was to play in the NHL…he is laser-focused, his drive has been, probably, since he’s 14 to play in the NHL. He left home early to come across the United States.”
Even though Merkulov did not etch his name into the scoresheet during Boston’s second-straight win, he did earn some praise from his bench boss for his efforts against the Devils.
As the team’s third-line center between James van Riemsdyk and Trent Frederic, Merkulov logged 15:08 of ice time in his NHL debut — blocking two shots. He could have logged even more shifts against New Jersey, but was held on the bench for a solid stretch of the third period while Boston protected a two-goal lead.
“Good. Did a lot of good things,” Montgomery said of Merkulov’s game. “I didn’t play him down the stretch, just because you’re home, you want to close out the game. As soon as we closed it out, put him back out there. Played a good game.”
Despite his scoreless stat line, Merulov helped string together some lengthy O-zone shifts alongside van Riemsdyk and Frederic. During the 9:28 of 5v5 ice time that that trio logged together on Saturday, Boston held a 5-2 edge in shots on goal.
“I think we really starting to get to our game and I thought the [Johnny] Beecher line started it off and then Merkulov’s line followed it up,” Montgomery said of how Boston shifted momentum in the second period. “And then you have your two offensive lines, your scoring lines, coming in and we really hemmed them in.”
With Matt Poitras still playing for Team Canada overseas in the 2023 World Juniors Championship, expect Merkulov to earn an extended look over the next week-plus as Boston’s third-line pivot.
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