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Nick Blankenburg

Nick Blankenburg
Blankenburg with the Michigan Wolverines in 2018
Born (1998-05-12) May 12, 1998 (age 26)
Washington, Michigan, U.S.
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Defense
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams		 Nashville Predators
Columbus Blue Jackets
National team  United States
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2022–present

Nick Blankenburg (born May 12, 1998) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played college ice hockey at Michigan.

Early life

Blankenburg attended Romeo High School.[1] During his senior year he was team captain and recorded 35 goals and 32 assists in 30 games, and helped lead the Bulldogs to their first state championship in school history in 2016.[2][3]

Playing career

Junior

After graduating from Romeo in 2016, Blankenburg tried out twice for the North American Hockey League, but had no success. With a year left of eligibility for AAA hockey, he tried out for and made the Victory Honda 18U team in Plymouth, Michigan. During the 2016–17 season, he switched from forward to defense to fill a needed position on the team; a position he's stuck with ever since. He recorded ten goals and 18 assists in 32 games with Victory Honda.[4]

From there, he was scouted by the Okotoks Oilers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. For the 2017–18 season, Blankenburg played defense for the Okotoks Oilers, and recorded 16 goals and 26 assists in 57 games. While playing for Okotoks, Blankenburg caught the attention of scouts from his home school, University of Michigan, and received an offer to play college hockey.[4]

Collegiate

Blankenburg began his collegiate career as a walk-on for the University of Michigan during the 2018–19 season. He scored his first collegiate goal on November 10, 2018, in a game against Notre Dame.[5] He finished his freshman year with two goals and eight assists in 34 games. During the 2019–20 season in his sophomore year, he recorded four goals and 12 assists in 35 games.[6] Following the season he was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten.[7] On July 10, 2020, Blankenburg was named an alternate captain for the 2020–21 season.[8] During his junior year, he recorded five goals and eight assists in 26 games. He ranked sixth in the Big Ten Conference in defenseman scoring with 13 points, and ranked third in the Big Ten, and tenth nationally, in plus–minus at +19.[6] Following the season he was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten.[9]

On September 16, 2021, he was named team captain for the 2021–22 season.[10] After being a walk-on for his first three years, Blankenburg was also awarded a scholarship for the 2021–22 season.[4] During his senior year, he recorded a career-high 14 goals and 15 assists in 38 games. On November 26, he scored a goal and an assist in a 4–0 win over Niagara.[11] The next day against Niagara he recorded two goals and an assist in a 4–1 win, for his second consecutive multi-point game.[12] He was subsequently named the Big Ten First Star of the Week for the week ending November 30, after recording five points during the weekend series.[13] His 14 goals tied the Michigan program record for goals in a single season by a senior defenseman. He ranked second among all NCAA defensemen in goals and power play goals.[14] Following the season he was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten, and a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award.[15][16] He also was awarded Michigan's Big Ten Medal of Honor.[17] He finished his career at Michigan with 25 goals, 44 assists, a +52 with 10 power-play goals and three game-winning goals in 133 games.[18]

Professional

On April 8, 2022, Blankenburg signed a one-year, entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the remainder of the 2021–22 NHL season.[19][20][21] He made his NHL debut for the Blue Jackets on April 13, 2022.[22][23] On April 24, in his sixth game, Blankenburg's first career NHL goal was the game-winning power play marker in a 5–2 victory against the Edmonton Oilers.[24] On July 15, 2022, Blankenburg signed a two-year, $1.65 million extension with the Blue Jackets.[25][26] During the 2023–24 season he recorded one goal in 12 games for the Blue Jackets. He also appeared in 24 games for the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters where he recorded three goals and ten assists.[27]

On July 1, 2024, Blankenburg signed a two-year contract with the Nashville Predators.[28] Blankenburg began the 2024–25 season with the Predators' AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. On November 27, 2024, he was recalled by the Predators and made his team debut later that night. Prior to being recalled he recorded three goals and five assists in 13 games for the Admirals.[29]

International play

On May 5, 2022, Blankenburg was named to the United States men's national ice hockey team to compete at the 2022 IIHF World Championship.[30] He was scoreless in four games.[31]

Personal life

Blankenburg's older brother, Alex, played college ice hockey for Omaha from 2015–19.[32]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2017–18 Okotoks Oilers AJHL 57 16 26 42 65 6 4 2 6 2
2018–19 University of Michigan B1G 34 2 8 10 12 — — — — —
2019–20 University of Michigan B1G 34 4 12 16 14 — — — — —
2020–21 University of Michigan B1G 26 5 8 13 14 — — — — —
2021–22 University of Michigan B1G 38 14 15 29 22 — — — — —
2021–22 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 7 1 2 3 4 — — — — —
2022–23 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 36 4 10 14 16 — — — — —
2023–24 Cleveland Monsters AHL 24 3 10 13 22 1 0 0 0 0
2023–24 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 12 1 0 1 4 — — — — —
NHL totals 55 6 12 18 24 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2022 United States WC 4th 4 0 0 0 0
Senior totals 4 0 0 0 0

References

  1. ^ Bernreuter, Hugh (March 12, 2016). "Romeo makes first state final appearance pay off, joins list of Bulldogs' state champs". MLive.com. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  2. ^ "Hockey team wins first ever State Championship". romeonews.org. March 14, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  3. ^ Farrell, Perry A. (March 12, 2016). "Romeo stuns vaunted Stevenson for Div. 2 hockey championship". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Svoboda, Jeff (October 26, 2022). "SvoNotes: Blankenburg's underdog story helps lift Blue Jackets". NHL.com. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  5. ^ Garske, TJ (November 10, 2018). "Michigan Falls to No. 6 Notre Dame to Split Weekend Series". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Nick Blankenburg Bio". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  7. ^ "Hockey Postseason Honors Announced". BigTen.org. May 11, 2020. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  8. ^ McNeil, Kristy (July 10, 2020). "Michigan Hockey Elects Captains for 2020-21 Season". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  9. ^ "Hockey Postseason Honors Announced". BigTen.org. March 16, 2021. Archived from the original on March 16, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  10. ^ McNeil, Kristy (September 16, 2021). "Michigan Ice Hockey Selects 2021-22 Captains". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  11. ^ McNeil, Kristy (November 26, 2021). "Michigan Offense Heats Up in Series-Opening Win Over Niagara". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  12. ^ McNeil, Kristy (November 27, 2021). "Michigan Scores Four Unanswered Goals in Win Over, Sweep of Niagara". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  13. ^ "Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State Earn Three Stars Honors". BigTen.org. December 1, 2021. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  14. ^ McNeil, Kristy (March 7, 2022). "Blankenburg Named Senior CLASS Award Finalist". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  15. ^ "Hockey Postseason Honors Announced". BigTen.org. March 15, 2022. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  16. ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Finalists Announced for the 2021-22 Senior CLASS Award". seniorclassaward.com. March 7, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  17. ^ McNeil, Kristy; McIntosh, Megan (April 8, 2022). "Blankenburg, Weissman Named Michigan's Big Ten Medal of Honor Recipients". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  18. ^ McNeil, Kristy (April 8, 2022). "Four Wolverines Sign Professional Contracts". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  19. ^ "CBJ sign Michigan captain Nick Blankenburg to one-year contract". NHL.com. April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  20. ^ Hedger, Brian (April 8, 2022). "Blue Jackets sign top prospect, Johnson, plus Michigan teammate Blankenburg". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  21. ^ Stephen Whyno, Stephen (April 8, 2022). "UM's NHL exodus begins; Power signs with Buffalo, Johnson/Blankenburg to Columbus". The Detroit News. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  22. ^ Svoboda, Jeff (April 12, 2022). "Blankenburg ready to show what he's all about with Blue Jackets". NHL.com. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  23. ^ Johnson, Bailey (April 13, 2022). "Kent Johnson and Nick Blankenburg set for NHL debuts Wednesday against Canadiens". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  24. ^ "Blankenburg gets first NHL goal in Blue Jackets win over Oilers". Sportsnet.ca. April 24, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  25. ^ "CBJ sign D Nick Blankenburg to two-year contract". NHL.com. July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  26. ^ Hedger, Brian (July 15, 2022). "Columbus Blue Jackets extend Nick Blankenburg with two-year deal after impressive debut". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  27. ^ "Predators' Nick Blankenburg: Gets two-year contract". cbssports.com. July 1, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  28. ^ "Predators Agree to Terms with Four Free Agents". NHL.com. July 1, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  29. ^ "Predators Recall Adam Wilsby and Nick Blankenburg From Milwaukee (AHL)". NHL.com. November 27, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  30. ^ Zuke, Ryan (May 5, 2022). "Four UM Wolverines named to Team USA roster for World Championship". MLive.com. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  31. ^ Potts, Andy (May 23, 2022). "The kids are alright for Team USA". IIHF.com. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  32. ^ Zuke, Ryan (January 15, 2022). "Defying the odds: Nick Blankenburg's rise from walk-on to Michigan hockey captain". MLive.com. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
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