If you know the Merrick family, it’s no surprise that Cameron and his two brothers all wound up playing hockey. Their grandfather, Wayne Merrick, was drafted 9th overall by the St. Louis Blues in 1972 and played over 10 years in the NHL. He went on to win four Stanley Cups with the New York Islanders in four consecutive seasons in the early ‘80s. Cameron’s father, Andrew, also found his own success in hockey seeing as he competed at the University of Michigan and won a national title there in 1998 and Cameron’s mother, Amy, played field hockey for the Wolverines as well - quite an athletic family!

Cameron, the middle child, and his brothers were actually born in Boston and lived there for a year or two, but they mainly grew up in Saline, Michigan, which is located just outside of Ann Arbor. While playing youth hockey in the Mitten State, Merrick competed for teams like Compuware, Little Caesars and Honeybaked before playing high school hockey for Saline as a freshman. He then went back to triple-A hockey, this time with the Biggby Coffee organization, as a sophomore before eventually making the decision to move to Minnesota.

With moving to a new state, Cameron and his family knew that playing somewhere with a strong hockey program would be important. They pondered their options but eventually settled on Minnetonka. Merrick officially moved to the area the summer before his junior season and did summer training with the Skippers before officially making the varsity high school squad later that year in the fall of 2024.

“That was kind of the biggest reason why I wanted to come here was to play for something that was bigger than myself and really to just have fun,” Merrick said. “Compared to club hockey, triple-A, it’s more of a community here (in MN) and there’s less politics, and I know there’s obviously that everywhere, but there’s less of that and it’s more enjoyable to play.”

Combining the fun, community aspect of hockey in Minnesota along with the high level of competition seen in the State of Hockey made for the perfect fit for the Michigan native. The Skippers squad that posted a 14-11-2 overall record in 2024-25 and the junior defenseman registered four assists through 27 games played.

“For me, it was a really good learning year,” he said about his first season in Minnetonka. “It set me up really well for this year to learn how our coaches want me to play and to learn what was expected from me … we had a good team but obviously we didn’t end how we wanted to (with a section semifinal loss to Shakopee in 2025). Obviously, you always want to win at the end of the year and want to be the last team standing but we had a really good group and a very competitive team and we played some good games and had some good wins.”

After his first season with the Skippers, hockey fans started to become more aware of Merrick as a high-level defensive prospect but his quick rise through the ranks of hockey more recently came during his strong showing this past fall at the Upper Midwest High School Elite League. Word about the 6-foot-2, left-shot skater spread quickly and his stock started to rise steeply upward. In October, he was named a ‘W’-level prospect on the NHL Central Scouting preliminary list, which means that he’s a projected possible sixth or seventh round draft pick for the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft.

“I was a little bit surprised, I knew that I had a pretty good Elite League but hadn’t gotten much recognition before that so it was good to see that, confidence-wise, and it felt good,” he said about finding out he was named to the NHL’s list of top draft-eligible prospects. “I found out through Instagram actually, I saw my name on there and then a couple people texted me about it and I just kind of found out that way (through social media).”

“I would say that I was surprised and that it felt good too - but it’s just another thing that can distract you,” he said about not getting too high on the honor of being named to the list and knowing that the work doesn’t stop now. “It was really good to have that and to be acknowledged in that way and it’s more motivation to keep trying to rise up that list, which is probably the biggest thing that I took from it. As a ‘W’-prospect, maybe my goal was this year to try and move up that list.”

With all of the recognition that Merrick received this past fall prior to the start of his senior campaign with the Skippers, college coaches started to take note of his skillset as well. Once Elite League was finished, the Michigan native was in talks with a handful of schools. After pondering his options and talking with his family and with his APX Advisor Hunter Warner, Merrick decided to verbally commit to play Division I hockey at Ferris State University - which just so happens to be the same school that his older brother, Adyn, is also committed to.

“I am excited and honored to announce my commitment to play Division I College Hockey and join my brother at Ferris State University,” he posted to his Instagram page on December 21, 2025. “I’d like to thank my family for their support, as well as all of my coaches, teammates, and friends that have helped me along the way. Especially Coach Riley, Coach DeMartino, and Coach Cisek for this opportunity and their support. Excited for the future. Go Bulldogs.”

Cameron’s brother, Adyn, was originally committed to Northern Michigan but recently flipped his commitment to Ferris State in May of this past year. With longtime head coach Bob Daniels retiring at Ferris State in 2025, the program brought in Brett Riley as the new bench boss last spring after he previously found success at Long Island University. Riley and his staff at FSU didn’t waste any time in creating a new era of recruits for the Bulldogs program, including the Merrick brothers.

“Their staff overall was really, really good to me and also to my brother since I saw him go through that process before me and I already kind of knew a little bit about what they were about,” Cam said about his decision. “With my brother going there, that was definitely a bonus. I wouldn’t say it was the main reason I committed but obviously I knew that it would be really nice if we both ended up there.”

Ferris State reached out and it didn’t take long for the younger Merrick brother to choose the same school as his older sibling. The two haven’t played on the same teams together in the past since they are a few years apart in age but are hoping that they might be able to in the future. Adyn is 20 and Cameron is 18, so Adyn will be a freshman at FSU next fall since he will age-out of his junior hockey eligibility while Cam’s timeline for his first season in Big Rapids will depend on how he does in junior hockey next year and the needs of the Bulldogs roster in the future.

The 18-year-old defenseman doesn’t know too many of the other current Ferris State recruits but he does know that there are some other Michigan guys slated to play there in the future as well such as Brecken Smith (from Jackson, Michigan), so they should have some familiar connections with one another.

Now with a Division I commitment under his belt and with the added recognition of being listed on the NHL’s Central Scouting list, Merrick is playing cool, calm and confident hockey for the Skippers as a senior in 2025-26. Minnetonka is a team that you don’t want to mess with this year as the squad is currently an undefeated 12-0-1 and is ranked No. 1 in Class AA in the state of Minnesota.

“We all feel really good right now but it’s important not to get too high,” he said about how the team feels right now in early January. “It’s been really exciting and it’s obviously cool to be the No. 1 team right now but we have to keep working every day because every game we play we want to get everyone’s best, so we have to keep staying focused and working hard every day.”

Minnetonka is a deeply talented team and one that has a very strong defensive core - including Merrick. The Skippers have only allowed three goals against one time so far this season (in the first game of the year), and they have three shutouts in their last three games.

“I’m probably biased but I don’t think there’s a better D-core in the state,” Merrick said about his fellow defenders on the Skippers squad. “We’re comfortable playing any of our seven defensemen against anybody in the state, so that’s a big factor, as well as our goalies. Our goalie, Chase Jerdee, has been unbelievable this year so that’s helped us a lot too, as well as our forwards, but it’s a group effort. I think there’s not a team of better D in the city, in my opinion.”

Minnetonka will continue grinding through it’s schedule, looking to stay undefeated. There are a few tough match-ups in the future though including games against Eden Prairie, Edina, St. Michael-Albertville and Maple Grove over the next two weeks.

Whenever his journey in high school hockey ends, Merrick recently signed with the Brantford Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for his future in juniors. He’ll be able to go there this spring and practice with the team and get a feel for what it’s like out there and he’ll likely become a regular in the lineup for 2026-27 if all goes according to plan.

“Their ownership group is really good, with the Hymans there, and I felt comfortable with them, and I think they’re going to make a deep playoff run this year,” said Merrick about why he chose Brantford of the OHL instead of other various options for junior hockey. The Bulldogs will have spots on defense to fill for next season season which leaves plenty of opportunity for Merrick to come in and fill that role and to make an immediate impact out on the ice next fall.

As for now, the defender is focused on his season with Minnetonka and he’ll be headed out to Brantford after that. For those who haven’t been able to watch Merrick play yet, he says that his strengths are his skating and his ability to play as a physical, competitive, two-way defenseman.

Merrick has been a part of the APX Advising family for a few months now, working with APX Advisor Hunter Warner. He says that it has been great collaborating with Warner and having him as a mentor who can help him with any and all aspects of his game.

“Excited to watch what’s next for Cameron as he takes this next step in his hockey journey," Warner said about Merrick’s commitment to play Division I hockey. “Cameron possesses elite skating ability paired with impressive size. His mobility allows him to retrieve pucks efficiently, make great decisions upon retrieval on first puck touch, distribute pucks on zone exits sharply, close quickly on opponents with suffocating gaps, and consistently finish plays with a strong, physical presence. His overall body of work reflects a defender who can impact the game at both ends of the ice.”

Currently up next for Merrick are a pair of away games with his Minnetonka squad at Eden Prairie on Jan. 8 and at Edina on Jan. 10.

MORE FROM APX NEWS: