Number: 55
Birth date: Aug. 18, 1997 (age 25 today)
Birthplace: Powell, Ohio
Height, Weight: 5-11, 184
Stats: 13 GP, 1-2-3
Contract: Signed through 2022-23 season (One year remaining until UFA status)
It wasn’t an easy process for Carson Meyer to get to the NHL. It might even be harder for him to stick.
But no one will ever be able to take away the fact that the Powell native not only made it to the highest level when he debuted with the Blue Jackets a season ago, he did it for his hometown team with a big group of friends and family in attendance.
“Just very exciting,” Meyer said after his debut in April. “I really didn’t have any expectations going into the game, just wanted to play hard and finish checks with however many minutes I played. Just the chance to put on that jersey in front of my whole family and friends in Nationwide as really, really special for me. I know it was special for my parents, too.”
The man has overcome a lot on and off the ice, all the while working himself from a sixth-round draft pick who initially had to go to the AHL level to prove he deserved a CBJ contract to an NHL player. A scorer growing up and in college at both Miami University and Ohio State, Meyer also has had to rework his game.
While he’s always had both skill and some sandpaper to his game, focusing on the latter is his meal ticket to making it work at the NHL level. Meyer did just that in two seasons with the Cleveland Monsters after finishing up at OSU, putting in the hard effort to show he can play the way he has to in the pros.
“The No. 1 thing is he’s earned his opportunity to get up here,” CBJ head coach Brad Larsen said. “I think he’s a guy that understands what he’s going to have to do to play in the NHL — his role, his style. We were very clear on that when we talked to him in the exit meetings, and it is an adjustment for him I think, but he has to be hard on pucks, he has to be tenacious, he should be noticed with his energy.”
There was a two-day span Meyer will never forget after being called up to make his NHL and Blue Jackets debut in April. He skated his first-ever game in front of friends and family at Nationwide Arena on April 4 in an overtime loss vs. Boston, but Meyer skated only 3:16 in the game in a close, penalty-filled affair. Off the ice, it was still a game to remember, but things unfolded much more according to plan a day later. Meyer got his first NHL goal and assist, both in the first period, as the Blue Jackets went on the road and beat Philadelphia by a 4-2 score.
Video: Meyer Reflects on First NHL Game
Video: CBJ@PHI: Meyer on the doorstep makes it 2-0
To give a sense of just how hard it is for the average sixth-round draft choice to make it to the league, consider this. Meyer is one of just four players from the sixth round of the 2017 draft to have skated in an NHL game, joining fellow CBJ pick Jonathan Davidsson (six games), San Jose pick Alexander Chmelevski (24 games) and New York Rangers pick Morgan Barron (32 games).
Meyer yet again faces a hard road to finding playing time because the Blue Jackets have so many options at the wing spots, but he showed well during his end-of-season cameo this spring so he can’t be counted out. He’s fully embraced the style of play he needs to lean into to stick, and Meyer has the speed, tenacity and grit to not just be a bottom-six player but contribute some offense as well. Making his NHL debut a year ago should only add to his confidence, and he’ll certainly have plenty of people in Central Ohio rooting for him to make it back this season.
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