What if Elvis never enters the building?
It is a distinct possibility for the Blue Jackets to never have 2014 3rd round draft pick Elivis Merzlikins on their NHL roster. The Latvian goaltender has been tearing up the Swiss League the past couple of seasons and with it, came a shiny new contract courtesy of HC Lugano for the 22-year-old.
It is a three year deal that doesn’t have an “out” clause in it. The Blue Jackets still retain his rights throughout his deal but will Merzlikins’ ever make it over to the Jackets?
This is surely a question the Blue Jackets front office must have been asking themselves since Merzlikins’ performances began to get better and better. Doing as well as he has done in one of the best leagues in the world is enough for heads to turn and mountains to be moved to make sure the player is a part of their organization.
Let’s look at what the young netminder has been able to do.
Last season, in 46 games, Merzlikins won the award for best goaltender in the NLA, and had a .922 sv% good enough to put him in a tie for second for that stat. He was also one of the youngest goaltenders on the list as well.
https://twitter.com/imfleming16/status/735315487131738112
Even when taking a look at his underlying numbers, we see that Merzlikins is one of the best in his respective league. Anyway you slice it, it looks like he is ready to give the NHL a shot.
The Blue Jackets very obviously have a log jam at goaltender due to the emergence of Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg. They are both players that have shown that they can get it done at the pro level. Merzlikins could have read the tea leaves and realized that his time hasn’t come yet. If that is the case, it would be a very selfless move by the Latvian.
However, the more he improves, the more pressure it puts on the Blue Jackets. If and when he decides to come over to North America, he will likely be able to leverage his play into a good position on the depth chart. Is he going to want to play in the AHL after all of that time overseas? It’ll make for a compelling storyline over the next few years as we see the Jackets organization grow and mature.
Future Outlook
If prior play is any indication, Merzlikins will continue to improve and be one of the better goalie prospects in the game. This year during Olympic qualifying, he had a .931 sv% that was able to keep Team Latvia afloat. For his club HC Lugano in the Champions League, he has a .944 sv%. The improvement is not only coming, it is imminent.
It will put the Blue Jackets in a tough spot and make their goalie decisions even tougher as Bobrovsky’s contract will expire in a scant few years. Luckily, the Jackets front office is paid the big bucks to make these decisions.
Age: 22 (04/13/1994)
Position: Goaltender
Catches: Left
Height/Weight: 6’3″, 181lbs
2015/16 Team: HC Lugano (NLA)
Likely 2016/17 Destination: HC Lugano (NLA)
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(All stats courtesy of Elite Prospects unless otherwise noted)
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