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Ben Merrill Elite Prospects ↗

Position: Forward DOB: 2005-11-04 Country: USA
2024 NHL Draft Round 6, Pick #166  ·  Montreal Canadiens Montreal Canadiens
⚠️ Aging Out 2025-26: Turns 20 before Dec 31, 2025 — final eligible junior season.
No commitment set

Set Commitment

NCAA Division I

NCAA D3 / D2

Career Trajectory
Dashed = raw PPG  ·  ■ Solid blue = age-adjusted NCAAe-PPG  ·  ■ Green = actual college PPG
Junior Seasons
Season Team League GP G A Pts PPG NCAAe-PPG Age-Adj D3e-PPG Age-Adj
2021-22 St. Sebastian’s NE-Prep 23 1 1 2 0.087 0.0245 0.0245 0.0398 0.0398
2022-23 St. Sebastian’s NE-Prep 24 7 7 14 0.583 0.1645 0.1645 0.2669 0.2669
2023-24 St. Sebastian’s NE-Prep 28 12 13 25 0.893 0.2519 0.2519 — —
2024-25 — BCHL 50 15 8 23 0.460 0.1714 0.1717 0.6703 0.6715
■ Blue = NCAAe (D1 anchor)   ■ Green = D3e (D3 anchor)   COVID-flagged seasons highlighted in yellow
College Seasons (Historical)
Season School Div Conference Year GP G A Pts PPG
2025-26 Boston University D1 HockeyEast FR 33 7 7 14 0.424
Pre-College Projection vs. Actual Freshman Year
Projected PPG
0.17
before college
→
Actual FR PPG
0.42
2025-26 · Boston University
+143.2% vs. projection

College Pathway Likelihood (based on 40 comparables)

15%
NCAA D1
5%
NCAA D2/D3
45%
Age-Out / Club
30%
Pro / Other

NCAAe Rankings

#28884
Forward overall
#1692
Forward born in 2005

D1 Comparables

Tyler Hynes
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.28 PPG
→ Union (0.19 D1 FR PPG)
0.17 Developing
NCAAe PPG
Dylan Gareau
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.34 PPG
→ Clarkson (0.14 D1 FR PPG)
0.20 Developing
NCAAe PPG
Landon Smith
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.39 PPG
→ Quinnipiac (0.79 D1 FR PPG)
0.23 Strong
NCAAe PPG
Sebastian Weberg
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.23 PPG
→ Colgate
0.14 No data
NCAAe PPG
Kenny Gillespie
USHL · 2012-13 · 0.37 PPG
→ RPI (0.20 D1 FR PPG)
0.22 Developing
NCAAe PPG

D2/3 Comparables

Connor Galloway
SUNY Brockport · 2018-19
1.074 Elite
actual D2/3 PPG
Logan Fredericks
Wisconsin-Stevens Point · 2014-15
1.000 Elite
actual D2/3 PPG
Matthew Lee
SUNY Brockport · 2024-25
0.731 Strong
actual D2/3 PPG

How to read this: NCAAe and D3e factors convert a player's junior PPG into expected NCAA scoring at the D1 or D3 level. Harder conferences → lower projected PPG for the same player. A strong junior player (e.g. USHL 0.90 PPG) will project much higher in NESCAC than Big Ten because the D3 scoring environment is lower-difficulty.

Strength factor: conferences above 1.0 are harder than average; below 1.0 are easier. The formula is: Base NCAAe PPG ÷ Conference Strength = Projected PPG.