Nic Kerdiles built his wealth through two distinct chapters: a professional hockey career that spanned parts of five seasons across the NHL and AHL, and a post-hockey transition into Nashville real estate that showed real financial promise. His death in September 2023, at 29 years old, cut that story short.
We’re cutting through the noise on Nic Kerdiles’ finances—showing exactly where his money came from, correcting the inflated numbers floating around, and giving you a clear, honest look at what he’d actually built by the time he passed.
Nic Kerdiles Net Worth
Nic Kerdiles’ net worth at the time of his death is estimated between $3 million and $5 million. This range reflects verifiable data: his known NHL salary history, documented contract values, and his activity as a real estate agent in Nashville’s luxury market.
When we dig into the numbers, his NHL career earnings give us the solidest starting point. According to contract records tracked by PuckPedia, his estimated career earnings from professional hockey totalled approximately $3.43 million. Real estate income added to that figure, though the exact amount from his Compass Real Estate work has never been publicly disclosed.
You’ll see $5 million tossed around in some articles—but that single-number estimate doesn’t hold up when you look closer. That number has no cited source and ignores the difference between gross transaction value and personal income. The $3–5 million range is more grounded in what the public record actually supports.
So where did his wealth actually come from? Three main streams:
- NHL contracts with the Anaheim Ducks and Winnipeg Jets
- Real estate commissions and personal property investments in Nashville
- Minor endorsement and brand partnerships
Early Life and Path to Hockey
Nicolas Kerdiles was born on January 11, 1994, in Lewisville, Texas, to a French father and a French-Canadian mother — making him a native French speaker. His family relocated several times due to his father’s work in medical equipment sales before settling in Irvine, California. It was there that Kerdiles first discovered the sport, starting with roller hockey before transitioning to ice hockey at age eight. He joined the Los Angeles Kings youth affiliate and quickly showed enough ability to attract serious attention.
By 2007, he was competing in the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Los Angeles Hockey Club — a competitive stage that regularly produces future professional players. His performance there foreshadowed the trajectory that followed.
Amateur Career: USNTDP, College, and International Play
In 2010, Kerdiles moved to Michigan to join the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (USNTDP), the primary pathway for elite American junior players. At the 2011 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, he was named to the tournament All-Star team as Team USA won silver. Later that same year, he helped the U18 national team capture gold at the IIHF World U18 Championships — a result he repeated in 2012, this time leading with four goals and nine points in six games.
After the USNTDP, Kerdiles enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he played two seasons with the Wisconsin Badgers in NCAA Division I hockey. His freshman season was exceptional: 11 goals and 22 assists helped Wisconsin win the Broadmoor Trophy as the WCHA playoff champion, and Kerdiles was voted the Most Valuable Player of the 2013 WCHA Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament.
He returned for a sophomore season, producing 15 goals and 23 assists before forfeiting his final two years of college eligibility to sign professionally. In January 2014, he represented Team USA at the World Junior Championship in Sweden, finishing as the team’s leading scorer with two goals and five assists in five games — though the Americans were eliminated by Russia in the quarter-finals.
NHL Career and Salary History
The Anaheim Ducks selected Kerdiles 36th overall in the second round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Four years later, on April 5, 2014, he signed his first professional contract, forgoing his remaining college eligibility to do so.
Entry-Level Contract with Anaheim (2014–2017)
His entry-level contract (ELC) ran three years, from 2014–15 through 2016–17. The cap hit was $925,000 per season, with a total contract value of approximately $2.78 million. Like all entry-level deals, it included a two-way structure: he earned the full rate when on the NHL roster and a significantly reduced minors salary — $70,000 per year — when assigned to the AHL.
Kerdiles began his professional career with the Norfolk Admirals, the Ducks’ AHL affiliate at the time, making his debut during the 2014 Calder Cup playoffs. When the Admirals relocated to San Diego ahead of the 2015–16 season, he moved with the organization and became a regular contributor for the San Diego Gulls.
His NHL debut came on February 22, 2017, in a 5–3 Anaheim victory over the Boston Bruins — a game that made him the first player raised in Orange County to appear for the Ducks. That debut came after a concussion had sidelined him earlier in the season; upon his return, four goals and five assists in 10 AHL games earned him the call-up.
Two-Way Extension and the Move to Winnipeg (2017–2019)
After his ELC expired, the Ducks re-signed Kerdiles on June 17, 2017, to a one-year, two-way contract extension worth $650,000 at the NHL level. He played two more NHL games for Anaheim that season, spending the majority of his time with the San Diego Gulls in the AHL.
On June 30, 2018, the Ducks traded Kerdiles to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for forward Chase De Leo. Winnipeg signed him to a separate one-year two-way contract on August 21, 2018. Injuries limited him to just three games with the Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, and he did not appear in an NHL game that season. His professional playing career effectively ended there.
How Two-Way Contracts Affected His Income
A two-way contract is a common structure for developing players: the salary changes depending on which level the player is assigned to. When Kerdiles was on the NHL roster, he earned the full contract rate. When sent to the AHL, his pay dropped to the minors’ rate — $70,000 annually under his ELC. This created meaningful income variation from year to year, and is the main reason why his total career earnings of approximately $3.43 million are lower than the sum of his contract face values would suggest.
This also explains why single-year salary figures reported in some articles are misleading — they typically cite the NHL rate without acknowledging that much of Kerdiles’ playing time came in the AHL at a fraction of that amount.
Career Statistics
The table below covers Kerdiles’ professional regular-season statistics. His AHL career total of 181 games, 47 goals, 60 assists, and 107 points reflects his development as a consistent scorer at that level. His NHL regular-season total was three games — one in 2016–17 and two in 2017–18 — plus four playoff games with Anaheim in which he recorded one assist.
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2013–14 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 2014–15 | Norfolk Admirals | AHL | 51 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 43 |
| 2015–16 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 45 | 15 | 12 | 27 | 70 |
| 2016–17 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 27 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 25 |
| 2016–17 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017–18 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 49 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 34 |
| 2017–18 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018–19 | Manitoba Moose | AHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| NHL Totals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| AHL Totals | 181 | 47 | 60 | 107 | 178 |
Contract history summary:
| Contract | Duration | Cap Hit | Total Value | Minors Salary |
| Entry-Level (Anaheim) | 3 years (2014–17) | $925,000/yr | $2.78M | $70,000/yr |
| Two-Way Extension (Anaheim) | 1 year (2017–18) | $650,000 | $650,000 | Reduced rate |
| Two-Way Deal (Winnipeg) | 1 year (2018–19) | N/A (public) | N/A (public) | Reduced rate |
Post-Hockey Career: Real Estate and Business Income
After his contract with the Jets concluded following the 2018–19 season, Kerdiles moved into real estate full-time, joining Compass Real Estate in Nashville, Tennessee. The move proved well-suited to his background: Nashville’s luxury property market was growing rapidly, and his status as a former professional athlete gave him a credible entry point with high-net-worth clients.
Real estate agents in Tennessee typically earn between 2.5% and 3% commission on each side of a transaction. In Nashville’s luxury market, where properties in the $1–3 million range are not unusual, a single closing could generate $25,000–$90,000 in commission income. Kerdiles did not need to close a high volume of deals to build meaningful earnings from this work.
Beyond working as an agent, Kerdiles also held personal real estate investments. While his full portfolio was never publicly detailed, social media activity and public records indicated he owned multiple properties in the Nashville area during a period of strong price appreciation.
His transition worked so well because his personal network and his client base naturally overlapped—former teammates, fellow athletes, people who already trusted him. Former and current professional athletes frequently seek trusted advisors for property purchases. Kerdiles’ own experience navigating athlete income — including the income volatility of two-way contracts — gave him a specific kind of credibility with that audience that a conventional agent would not have.
His income from endorsements and brand partnerships was a smaller portion of his overall earnings. He secured agreements with local businesses and sports-adjacent brands, primarily in the Southern California and Nashville markets, but these were supplementary rather than primary revenue sources.
Common Misconceptions About His Net Worth
Several incorrect claims about Kerdiles’ finances have circulated since his death. Two are worth addressing directly.
The “hidden millions” claim.
Some articles suggest Kerdiles had undisclosed wealth well beyond public estimates. This likely comes from confusion between his transaction volume as an agent and his personal income. Representing a $3 million property does not mean he personally earned $3 million — it means he earned a commission on that sale, typically around $75,000–$90,000. Gross transaction value and personal net worth are not the same thing.
Active NHL contracts at the time of his death.
A few sources incorrectly stated that Kerdiles had ongoing NHL deals through 2024–25. His professional hockey career had ended after the 2018–19 season. His primary income source at the time of his passing was real estate, not hockey.
Death and Estate
Kerdiles died on September 23, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 29. According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, he was riding his Indian Motorcycle when he drove through a stop sign and struck the driver’s side of a BMW SUV at approximately 3:30 a.m. He was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries. A subsequent autopsy report found his blood alcohol concentration was above Tennessee’s legal limit of 0.08 at the time of the crash. The cause of death was ruled accidental.
The distribution of his estate has not been made public. Without a spouse or children, his assets would typically pass to parents or siblings under Tennessee intestate succession laws, assuming no will directs otherwise. Because probate records in this case have not been publicly released, the exact allocation remains unknown.
Assessing the full value of his estate is complicated by the difference between gross wealth and net worth. Properties he held personally would be offset by any outstanding mortgage balances. Commissions earned from ongoing real estate deals may have been in process at the time of his passing. Cash and investment accounts, any business ownership stakes, personal property, and life insurance policies would all factor into the final estate valuation.
Personal Life
Kerdiles began dating reality television personality Savannah Chrisley in November 2017. The couple became engaged in 2019 and separated in September 2020. There is no public evidence that the relationship or its end had a material impact on his finances — the two appear to have maintained separate financial lives throughout.
His lifestyle reflected someone who had managed the transition from athlete to business professional reasonably well. His social media presence showed an interest in quality of life without the kind of excessive spending that has undone many athletes’ financial standing. His background — growing up across Texas and California in a family that relocated regularly for work — likely contributed to the practical approach to money that his post-hockey career demonstrated.
Conclusion
Kerdiles’ financial story is straightforward once you remove the speculation. He earned approximately $3.43 million from professional hockey — the majority of it at AHL rates, not the higher NHL figures that tend to get quoted. His real estate career added meaningfully to that base, with the Nashville luxury market providing genuine earning potential for someone with his client network and credibility.
The $3–5 million net worth estimate is realistic. It accounts for the income variation that two-way contracts created, the difference between transaction volume and personal income in real estate, and the likelihood that mortgage obligations and other costs offset some of his gross asset value.
What makes Kerdiles worth studying is not the scale of his wealth but the structure of it. He moved out of professional sports at 25 and built a second income stream that could plausibly have outpaced his hockey earnings over time. That transition — done without fanfare and with visible competence — is a harder thing to pull off than the numbers alone suggest.
