Boston Bruins: Could Boston trade for a goaltender at the deadline?
By Bryan Murphy
Is Merzlikins worth bringing in at the deadline for Boston?
Elvis Merzlikins took the NHL by storm last season after a bumpy start, creating a dangerous duo of himself and Joonas Korpisalo in the net for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
After going winless in his first 10 appearances, including getting shelled for seven goals in his debut, Merzlikins broke out at the end of 2019, winning 11 out of 14 games between late December and the first week of February. In that streak, Merzlikins won eight games in a row at one point, had five shutouts, and never gave up more than three goals in a game.
However, 2020-2021 hasn’t been kind to Merzlikins, much like it hasn’t been to the Blue Jackets. The Latvian native is 6-7-2 with a 2.83 GAA and .916 save percentage, with four losses in his last five games.
He was forced into the starting role at the beginning of the season with Korpisalo being injured, and has dealt with injuries himself. He has been far from the dominant netminder we saw during the stretch at the beginning of 2020.
The 27-year-old has one more year on his contract, with a cap hit of $4 million. It doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Blue Jackets to trade him, as neither Korpisalo or Merzlikins have shown they can be the starting goaltender Columbus has needed since Sergei Bobrovsky’s departure two years ago, yet their better options than what else Columbus has. But if Columbus gets an offer too good to refuse for Merzlikins, GM Jarmo Kekalainen may make the move.