January 12, 2024 | 3:59Pm ET
TheFourthPeriod.com
MERZLIKINS, BLUE JACKETS WORKING ON “NEW SCENARIO”
Elvis Merzlikins, goaltender
The Columbus Blue Jackets sit second-last in the Eastern Conference with a 13-20-9 and are already starting to look to the future as this season has clearly gone off the rails.
With just two pending unrestricted free agents on the roster – forward Jack Roslovic and goalie Spencer Martin – the team’s activity leading up to the trade deadline might be minimal.
However, one major move the team could make revolves around goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, who is I the second year of a five-year, $27 million contract.
Merzlikins, who hasn’t played in a game since Dec. 29, has not been pleased with the lack of playing time he has received or the lack of confidence the team seems to have in him, and while he says he has not formally asked for a trade, he, his agent and the team have agreed to explore a trade.
“In talking to my agent, and with my agent (Gerry Johansen) talking to the club, we agreed on a new scenario,” Merzlikins told reporters on Friday, as quoted by The Athletic. “There has to be a new scenario for me, for my career.”
Merzlikins currently ranks No.13 on the TFP Trade Watch List.
Armed with a 10-team no-trade list, Merzlikins will have some say in where he ends up, if moved.
The Blue Jackets are currently evaluating how goalie Daniil Tarasov performs with consistent playing time, which doesn’t appear to sit very well with Merzlikins.
“I just want to be treated as a No. 1,” Merzlikins said. “I believe I am a No. 1. It didn’t reach that point where I am requesting (a trade). It went to the point where both sides agreed. What is going to happen now, I have no idea.”
There are several teams interested in bolstering their goaltending position, including the New Jersey Devils, but the asking price for Merzlikins is not yet known.
“I’m always having talks with GMs, but I don’t ever get into details,” Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen told The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline. “I’m not going to talk about our discussions. It doesn’t do anybody any good.”