Nathan Perkovich (born October 15, 1985) is a

Croatian American Croatian Americans or Croat Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Croatian ancestry. In 2012, there were 414,714 American citizens of Croat or Croatian descent living in the United States as per revised 2010 United States Census ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. He was selected by the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

in the 8th round (250th overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. In 2015, Perkovich played for the Croatian national team at the

IIHF World Championship Division I The IIHF World Championship Division I is an annual sports event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. The divisional championship is played in two groups. History From 2001 until 2011 the two national teams that lost the relegat ...

Playing career

Before turning professional, Perkovich played three years at NCAA Division 1

Lake Superior State University Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States. It enrolls approximately 1,600 students. Due to its proximity to the Canada–United States border, ...

, in

Sault Sainte Marie, MI Sault Ste. Marie ( ') is a city in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Chippewa County and is the only city within the county. With a population of 13,337 at the 2020 census, it is the second-most popul ...

. Approaching his seventh season with Croatian club,

KHL Medveščak Zagreb KHL Medveščak Admiral (), also known as KHL Medveščak Zagreb, is a Croatian professional ice hockey team based in Zagreb, established in 1961. The team's name derives from the location of its original arena in the Medveščak area in centra ...

, he began the second season of their return from the

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

to the

EBEL The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League, ICEHL), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria. It c ...

, before returning to North America after securing a one-year contract for the 2018–19 season with the

Florida Everblades The Florida Everblades are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Estero, Florida, in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area. They play in the ECHL and are affiliat ...

of the ECHL on October 18, 2018. On August 5, 2019, the

Greenville Swamp Rabbits The Greenville Swamp Rabbits are a professional ice hockey team located in Greenville, South Carolina. They play in the South Division of the ECHL's Eastern Conference and play their home games at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in downtown Gr ...

of the ECHL announced that Perkovich had signed a standard player contract for the 2019–20 season. As a veteran for the Swamp Rabbits, Perkovich improved upon his previous season totals, recording 27 assists and 46 points in 58 regular season games before the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Having left the Swamp Rabbits after his contract expired, Perkovich continued in the ECHL by agreeing to terms with the

Jacksonville Icemen The Jacksonville Icemen are a minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL in Jacksonville, Florida, that began play in the 2017–18 season. The team is affiliated with the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL) and plays their home gam ...

on August 25, 2020. He made a solitary appearance with the Icemen before securing a contract abroad with Hungarian club,

Újpesti TE Újpesti Torna Egylet (Újpesti TE or UTE) is a Hungarian sports society, based in Újpest, Budapest. The club, which was founded in 1885, includes sports sections that represent the club at ice hockey, men's water polo, women's volleyball, at ...

of the

Erste Liga In sports, 1. Liga, 1. liga, I Liga or Erste Liga may refer to: Association football * 1. Bundesliga, football league in Germany * Latvian First League, (1. līga), football league in Latvia * I liga, the second tier of the Polish football league ...

, on January 19, 2021. He returned to the

for the 2021–22 season, where he won the

Kelly Cup The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the playoff champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup, named after former American Hockey League president Jack Riley. Th ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkovich, Nathan 1985 births Living people Albany Devils players American people of Croatian descent Cedar Rapids RoughRiders players Chicago Steel players Croatian ice hockey forwards Florida Everblades players Greenville Swamp Rabbits players Ice hockey players from Michigan Jacksonville Icemen players KHL Medveščak Zagreb players Lake Superior State Lakers men's ice hockey players Lowell Devils players New Jersey Devils draft picks