NCDC Commitment Profiles: Mercer’s Barashkin Commits To King’s College
Photo by Heather O’Connell
By Alexis Demopoulos
Mercer Chiefs defenseman Artyom Barashkin, who hails from Belarus, is a great example of USPHL Advancement In Action. He played with the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes in the USPHL Premier during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.
At the end of the 23-24 season, Barashkin went to the Mercer Chiefs and played in 11 total games including playoffs. He had no doubt about returning there for the 2024-25 season. Barashkin had a great year with the Chiefs playing in 53 regular season games tallying 18 points (2G, 16A) and 12 playoff games.
Through all of this hard work, Barashkin has earned an NCAA Division III commitment to King’s College for the 2025-26 season.
“I absolutely love the Chiefs,” said Barashkin. It was an incredible year with those guys. Coach Rob Broderick definitely put the best team together with great help from our assistant coaches Kevin St. Jacques and J.T. Tarantino.”
St. Jacques was Barashkin’s head coach while they were both with the Jr. Hurricanes.
“We fell a little short in the finals but we came through a lot of adversity during the year and especially the playoffs. This experience made it worth it,” Barashkin added. “I was playing for them the year before. I played a few regular season games and the whole playoffs. I’ve been given a big role from the start and I really liked that they trusted me and it brought some confidence to my game. I also was roommates with the best goalie in the league, Dominic Gatto, which helped me to adjust to New Jersey. After the 2023-24 playoffs, I knew that they were my team for the next year. It was a great decision after all.”
Barashkin played at King’s College home rink a lot this past year as it is where the WBS Knights play their home games. The coaches were able to see him play multiple times and right before the playoffs is when the talks became more serious.
“The last two months we spent trying to make it possible for me to attend King’s College thanks to Head Coach Tom Seravalli,” said Barashkin. “Coaches always mention my physicality, good skating, gap control and heavy shot. Always playing with an edge, but also can create some offense. I’m excited to bring all of these skills to King’s next year.”
Barashkin is planning to study business, so finding a good business school was one of his top priorities. He knew King’s would be the best place for him to thrive academically and grow as a player.
“Not many Division III schools are accredited business schools,” said Barashkin. “King’s has AACSB accreditation and that made them my priority. They know how to take care of their players. As a freshman, I wanted to find a great school academically, where I will continue to be a big part of the team and grow together as a team and player.”
Though he hasn’t yet visited the school’s campus in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Barashkin is familiar with Wilkes-Barre and he loves the town, so it was a no-brainer decision for him.
“I played at their home rink a lot this year,” said Barashkin. “It is a great town with many other schools around, an amazing accredited private business school and a familiar rink to me. It was a pretty easy decision for me.”
Now that his juniors career is over, Barashkin is looking forward to taking his game to the next level.
“I will be working on bringing my key skills to the college level,” said Barashkin. “I won’t be changing the way I play, I’ll be adjusting. I will be bringing my hard work to the rink and school every day. They will get the same player they signed.”
The NCDC congratulates Artyom Barashkin, his family, the Mercer Chiefs and King’s College for his commitment.