It's been another year, and the Blue Jackets are in a similar situation when it comes to goaltending.
Both Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo have contracts with the team this season, but this time, both of them will be unrestricted free agents after the conclusion of the 2021-22 NHL season. There were loud whispers that the club has been looking to move Korpisalo, especially during the trade deadline last year, but such a move never came to fruition.
It would be remiss to not acknowledge that the untimely passing of Matiss Kivlenieks changed the Blue Jackets' course in the goaltending department. The organization saw Kivlenieks' potential, and he was likely to play a bigger role this season with the NHL club. However, the reality of the situation is that Merzlikins and Korpisalo are the only NHL-ready goaltenders in the Blue Jackets' organization. Daniil Tarasov will play in Cleveland this season, but he'll likely need at least one more year before he's ready to join the Blue Jackets.
With only two NHL-level goaltenders, the Blue Jackets have a couple of options. Firstly, they can stand pat and split the starts between Korpisalo and Merzlikins, like they did last year. They can see if Merzlikins continues to elevate his play, or if Korpisalo has a resurgence, and determine the direction they want to go. They could sign the goaltender that they want to commit to long-term, and trade the other at the deadline.
A second option, and one that has been floated around, is dealing a goalie before the start of the season. If you trade Korpisalo or Merzlikins, you need to bring in a goalie who can play in the NHL, however. With that in mind, a deal that makes perfect sense for both clubs would be Korpisalo to the Edmonton Oilers, who would give the Blue Jackets Mikko Koskinen and future considerations. Koskinen has one year remaining on his contract at $4.5 million and hasn't been great for Edmonton. The Blue Jackets have the cap space to take on his contract, while also receiving draft picks.
You can make the argument that the Blue Jackets should have traded a goaltender at the deadline last season, given the team's place in the standings and the market at that time. If the Blue Jackets find themselves in a similar situation when the 2021-22 deadline approaches, they cannot afford to let either Korpisalo or Merzlikins walk for nothing in return. The likelihood that they sign both to extensions is slim to none, so they need to get something for one of them, whether that's now, in two months, or deadline day.
