Elvis Merzlikins extends his contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets
Even though the NHL has been suspended since mid-March, the Columbus Blue Jackets were hard at work ensuring the future of their franchise was secured. The club announced that they have given their talented young goaltender a two-year contract extension worth an annual average of $4m a season.
The Latvian impressed in his rookie season with the Blue Jackets, appearing in 33 games with 31 starts to his name thus far. Merzlikins spent the last 10 seasons with HC Lugano in Switzerland, progressing through their ranks. He was drafted by Columbus in the third-round – 76th overall – of the 2012 NHL Draft but had opted to remain in Switzerland.
The 26-year-old finally signed a one-year entry-level deal with the Blue Jackets on March 20th, 2019. Columbus knew the goaltender had outperformed his contract and were eager to lock him down to a longer-term deal.
“We’ve believed for several years that Elvis Merzlikins was the best goaltender outside the NHL while he was playing in Switzerland and this year he has shown that he has the ability and drive to be a very good goaltender in this league,” said Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen in the club’s official press release. “He is quick, athletic and driven to succeed and we are excited to see what the future holds for Elvis and our hockey club.”
Prior to the season being halted, Merzlikins had split time with Joonas Korpisalo in net with the veteran getting 37 starts. While Korpisalo has six more wins on the season than Merzlikins, the rookie has a better goal against average and save percentage. Merzlikins also has five shutouts on the season – tied with Tuuka Rask and Marc-Andre Fleury for the second most in the entire league.
“I’m really excited and I’m really happy because I like everything here. I like the city, I really love my teammates and I like the organization, especially the fans,” Merzlikins told reporters on a conference call following the announcement.
“I felt when I came here in the start of the season I felt like I’m already home. I didn’t have the best start of my NHL career, maybe, but still the fans, they didn’t abandon me. They stayed with me, they took me with open arms and even if there was a bad game they were always with me and even when we won good games they were always with me. So I think it’s a perfect club and perfect city to be here and perfect people around.”
The Blue Jackets were in a dogfight to get into the playoffs before the season was stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Columbus was sitting in the second Wild Card place and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, just one point up on the New York Islanders.
It will be interesting to see what the league decides to do if or when it can return. The NHL has maintained they’d like to finish the regular season somehow prior to the playoffs commencing, but it remains to be seen whether that can be done and if so, what the schedule would look like.
