# Ben Meyers

Benjamin Meyers (born November 15, 1998) is an American professional ice hockey forward for the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). He formerly played for the Colorado Avalanche and Anaheim Ducks. 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 alternate captain and helped the Force win the Clark Cup 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 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. 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 hat trick 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 development 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 Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a 2024 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. After going unclaimed on waivers, Meyers was assigned to Seattle's AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, to begin the 2024–25 season. He was recalled by Seattle on November 17 and made his Kraken debut that night in a 2–0 loss to the New York Rangers.

## International play

Meyers was selected to represent the United States in the men's tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics, alongside teammates Brock Faber and Matthew Knies. 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. He recorded four goals and four assists in ten games.

## Career statistics
### Regular season and playoffs

| | | | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2013–14 | Delano High | USHS | 25 | 18 | 17 | 35 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2014–15 | Delano High | USHS | 25 | 18 | 32 | 50 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2015–16 | Delano High | USHS | 25 | 32 | 29 | 61 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| 2016–17 | Delano High | USHS | 25 | 46 | 53 | 99 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 14 |
| 2016–17 | Fargo Force | USHL | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017–18 | Fargo Force | USHL | 60 | 24 | 20 | 44 | 30 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 8 |
| 2018–19 | Fargo Force | USHL | 59 | 33 | 32 | 65 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019–20 | University of Minnesota | B1G | 37 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2020–21 | University of Minnesota | B1G | 31 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2021–22 | University of Minnesota | B1G | 34 | 17 | 24 | 41 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2021–22 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2022–23 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 39 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2022–23 | Colorado Eagles | AHL | 30 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2023–24 | Colorado Eagles | AHL | 32 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2023–24 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2023–24 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — |
| NHL totals | NHL totals | NHL totals | 67 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

### International

| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2022 | United States | OG | 5th | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 2022 | United States | WC | 4th | 10 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
| Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | Senior totals | 14 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 2 |

## Awards and honors

| Award | Year |
| USHS |||
| All-USA Hockey Second Team | 2017 |
| USHL |||
| Clark Cup champion | 2018 |
| Second All-Star Team | 2019 |
| College |||
| All-Big Ten First Team | 2022 |
| Big Ten Player of the Year | 2022 |
| AHCA West Second Team All-American | 2022 |