Niverville Nighthawks forward Merik Boles has committed to the University of Regina's men's hockey team and will join the Cougars for the 2026-27 season.
Boles is among the Manitoba Junior Hockey League's top scorers this season, having collected 22 goals and 42 assists for a total of 64 points in just 50 games played. Boles' Niverville team is first in the MJHL with a 43-6-1 record and the Nighthawks are ranked No. 2 in this week's version of the Canadian Junior Hockey League Top 20.
"Merik is an extremely intelligent, competitive player who produces at a consistently high level," Cougars head coach
Trevor Keeper said. "He plays with pace, edge, and confidence, and that's why he's been well over a point per game in the MJHL. We're excited to welcome Merik to our program and look forward to seeing the impact he'll have with the Cougars."
An original member of the Niverville franchise, Boles joined the expansion Nighthawks as a 17-year-old in 2022 and has been with the team since. In four seasons with Niverville, Boles has accumulated 49 goals, 95 assists, and 144 points in 207 regular season games played and is the team's all-time leader in all four of those categories. He has also appeared in 15 postseason games with Niverville.
Boles is the fourth member of Keeper's 2026-27 recruiting class. The Cougars announced the commitments of forwards Noah Asmundson and Riley Fequet and defenceman Rylan Pearce last Wednesday.
