Nick Gerdles, a former NHL player for the Anaheim Ducks, died Saturday morning at 29 in a motorcycle accident in Nashville.
According to TMZ, Kertles died from injuries sustained in the crash around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Reports indicate that Gerdles hit the side of a BMW. The driver of the other vehicle stopped immediately and took him to a local hospital.
Police say there were no signs of impairment from Gerdles or the driver of the other vehicle.
Kertles posted a photo of himself on a motorbike on his Instagram story on Saturday night with the caption ‘Night Rider’.
He was previously engaged to Savannah Chrisley, a former pageant queen and family member featured on the USA Network reality television show ‘Chrisley Knows Best’.
Former NHL player Nick Gerdles, 29, died in a motorcycle accident Friday evening after posting this picture to his Instagram story. He was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries
Kertles played a total of seven games with the Anaheim Ducks and logged 199 games in the AHL.
Gerdles was previously engaged to former pageant queen and reality TV star Savannah Chrisley.
Kerdles and Chrisley began dating in November 2017, about three years after the reality TV show began.
The two got engaged on Christmas Eve 2018, but the couple never tied the knot.
In September 2020, Chrisley announced that the couple had split, saying in an Instagram post that ‘there is no animosity between the two of us’.
‘We have nothing but love, respect and admiration for each other, but it’s time for us to move on separately,’ he wrote.
Savannah starred in both ‘Now’s Best’ and ‘Growing Up Chrisley’.
Those two series were canceled when Savannah’s parents – Todd and Julie Chrisley – were sentenced to twelve and seven years in prison for tax evasion and bank fraud, respectively.
Chrisley and Kerdles first started dating each other in November 2017
Gerdles proposed to Savannah on Christmas Eve 2018 after dating for over a year.
Chrisley announced the couple’s split in a September 2020 Instagram post
Gerdles was born and raised in Louisville, Texas to a French father and a French-Canadian mother – eventually moving to France before settling in California.
As a child, he participated in the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a group of kids from Los Angeles.
He represented the USA in the Hockey National Team Development Program at several prestigious youth tournaments.
Gerdles won silver with the United States at the 2011 IIHF U-17 World Championship before winning gold at the U-18 World Championship later that year.
The U.S. won gold at the same event the following year, where Kertles scored the most points of any American.
In 2012, the Anaheim Ducks drafted Kertiles in the second round with the 36th overall pick. He attended the University of Wisconsin for two seasons, scoring 26 goals and 45 assists for 71 points in 60 college games.
After those two seasons, he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Ducks in 2014. He made his debut in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs for Anaheim’s AHL minor league affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. He would play for the team when the San Diego Gulls became the Ducks’ new affiliate.
Gerdles made his NHL debut for Anaheim on February 22, 2017 against the Boston Bruins.
Following three seasons in the minors, Kertles made his NHL debut on February 22, 2017 against the Boston Bruins.
Kertles returned to the Gulls and played eight games in their short-lived Calder Cup playoff campaign.
But the Ducks called him back for four spectacular games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He was on the ice in Games 5 and 6 of the Western Conference second round against the Edmonton Oilers, a series Anaheim would eventually win.
Kertiles’ next two games came against the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference Finals. After pitching a shutout in Game 5 of that series, he tallied his first and only NHL point in Game 6.
His pass behind the net to teammate Chris Wagner cut Nashville’s lead to 3-2. Unfortunately, Nashville would win that game, meaning they would eliminate Anaheim and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Kertiles will return to play in the NHL next season for two games after signing a one-year extension.
Unfortunately, he failed to make enough of an impact to stay with the team and he played his last game with Anaheim on October 15, 2017 against the Buffalo Sabres.
He was traded to the Winnipeg Jets on June 30, 2018. While he made three appearances for their AHL team – the Manitoba Moose – he never played in the NHL again.
Kertiles played a total of seven games for the Ducks – including four in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
His final game was on October 13, 2018 against the Belleville Senators in a 6–2 loss.
Kertles finished his NHL career with seven appearances in the regular season and the playoffs – managing one point.
In the AHL, he had 47 goals and 60 assists for 107 regular season points in 181 regular season games.
He also had seven goals and five assists for 12 points in 18 AHL playoff games.
