Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins is healthy and makes $5.4M annually. Despite that, he hasn't played since Dec. 29 and hasn't dressed since Jan. 2. On Friday, he addressed the media, stating that he didn't receive much of an explanation and that it's an organizational decision that's out of his control.
"I was [the] stable No. 1 [goalie]," Merzlikins said. "I just jumped straight to No. 3. I did not like that, obviously. I don't think anybody would like that. But again, it's it was [the ] organization's decision. I'm healthy. I'm good to go. I can play. Again, there's nothing I can do about it."
| Elvis Merzlikins' NHL Stats (via hockeydb.com) | RS Scoring | More -> | RS Goalie Stats | Playoff Stats | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | A | PIM | Min | GA | EN | SO | GAA | W | L | T | Svs | Pct | GP | A | PIM | |||||||
| 2019-20 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 33 | 0 | 0 | 1815 | 71 | 0 | 5 | 2.35 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 848 | 0.923 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| 2020-21 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 28 | 1 | 0 | 1497 | 69 | 0 | 2 | 2.77 | 8 | 12 | 5 | 756 | 0.916 | - | - | - | |||||||
| 2021-22 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 59 | 2 | 8 | 3320 | 178 | 0 | 2 | 3.22 | 27 | 23 | 7 | 1742 | 0.907 | - | - | - | |||||||
| 2022-23 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 30 | 1 | 4 | 1560 | 110 | 0 | 0 | 4.23 | 7 | 18 | 2 | 779 | 0.876 | - | - | - | |||||||
| 2023-24 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 23 | 0 | 4 | 1276 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 3.25 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 669 | 0.907 | ||||||||||
| NHL Totals | 173 | 4 | 16 | 9 | 3.15 | 62 | 70 | 28 | 0.906 | ||||||||||||||||
Merzlikins said that he was surprised by this development and that he and the club have agreed to "a new scenario" for the goalie.
"There has to be a new scenario for me," Merzlikins said. "[And] for my career, I believe."
He said that he loves Columbus and he hasn't formally requested a trade, but that he believes he's a No. 1 goalie and wants to be treated like one.
"[It didn't go] to that point that I'm requesting [a trade]," Merzlikins said. "[It got to] the point that both sides agreed. Now I didn't [speak] to anybody. Obviously, that's not on me. That's [why] I'm paying my agent. So my agent did that, and [spoke with] Jarmo [Kekalainen] or whoever he spoke [with]. So it's from both sides agreed."
"We decided to have a new scenario," Merzlikins added.
The day after he took a costly roughing penalty in an overtime loss against the Capitals, Merzlikins said he apologized to head coach Pascal Vincent as well as his teammates. He added that that situation has nothing to do with what's going on now. Vincent confirmed as much and said that there were no additional consequences regarding this incident.
"There has to be a new scenario for me."– Elvis Merzlikins on his current situation.
Vincent said Merzlikins will serve as the backup for Saturday's game against the Kraken, and added that decisions regarding Merzlikins' future are "above my pay grade."
"I talked to Elvis about the situation here," Vincent said. "Now what's going to happen beyond that? Elvis is a good goalie. A really good goalie. As far as the coaches are concerned, we need to see what Daniil [Tarasov] has. And we know Elvis can play. He's having a good season. Now what does it mean for Elvis in the future? I don't know. I don't know. This is a question for somebody else."
Are we nearing the end of Merzlikins' time in Columbus?
