Blue Jackets Could Decide To Not Replace Sergei Bobrovsky In Free Agency
If Sergei Bobrovsky winds up leaving Columbus in free agency this summer as many anticipate, it shouldn’t be considered a sure bet that the Blue Jackets will look to replace him. Speaking with Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required), GM Jarmo Kekalainen indicated that the team is comfortable running with Joonas Korpisalo and rookie Elvis Merzlikins as their goalie tandem for next season:
It’s going to be a competition between those two unless something else happens. And if that’s what we have for our two goalies at the start of the training camp, we’re totally fine with it.
Korpisalo has long been viewed as the goalie of the future in Columbus and he has had flashes of dominant stretches in his young career. However, he has also struggled at times as well and has posted identical .897 save percentage marks over the past two seasons. That number falls below the league average which isn’t the most ideal from a potential starting goalie. The 25-year-old will be a restricted free agent this summer and given the uncertainty surrounding his role for the upcoming season, Portzline notes that a one-year contract is likely. He will still have one season of RFA eligibility after that.
Meanwhile, Merzlikins has been viewed as one of the top goalies outside of North America for the past few years and recently inked a one-year deal for next season. However, he has yet to play on the smaller ice surface so it’s certainly possible that he could need some time to adjust in the minors first. However, given how he has performed in the Swiss NLA, it’s also possible that he could step in and make a big impact right away.
Kekalainen is no stranger to high risk, high reward gambles considering how he went all in at the trade deadline. If he opts to go with a largely unproven tandem of Korpisalo and Merzlikins next season, he’ll be making another one for next season.
Columbus Blue Jackets Extend Elvis Merzlikins
After burning his entry-level contract without actually suiting up in a game, Elvis Merzlikins has signed another deal. The Columbus Blue Jackets signed the goaltender to a one-year extension for the 2019-20 season. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that the deal is worth $874,125 at the NHL level
Merzlikins, 25, was originally selected by the Blue Jackets in 2014 but has waited in Switzerland biding his time and developing into one of the best non-NHL goaltenders in the world. The Latvian netminder posted excellent numbers in the NLA year after year, but finally came over to the Blue Jackets in March and signed a one-year entry-level deal. That contract was burned immediately despite Merzlikins only practicing with the team, but he’ll surely get more than optional skates next season.
With Sergei Bobrovsky expected to move on to a different locale in free agency this summer, the path to a starting role in Columbus has never been more open. Merzlikins could very well be that starter next season, though the team still has Joonas Korpisalo in the organization. Korpisalo is scheduled to become a restricted free agent on July 1st, a date that actually comes with an interesting CBA quirk. As CapFriendly points out, NHL organizations are required to have at least three goaltenders under contract at all times. With Korpisalo, Bobrovsky, Keith Kinkaid, and Jean-Francois Berube all hitting free agency this summer the team only had Daniil Tarasov and Matiss Kivlenieks with deals for 2019-20.
If Merzlikins is given the job in Columbus, it wouldn’t exactly be handed to a goaltender without experience. While he may have never played in the NHL, the 6’3″ netminder has played against top competition for years internationally. Representing Latvia at World Junior, World Championship and even Olympic qualifying tournaments, he has routinely kept top scorers at bay. In Switzerland he has been named the Goaltender of the Year multiple times while posting save percentages somewhere between .913-.924 year after year.
Interestingly, Merzlikins will be a restricted free agent once again in 2020. The short-term deal is likely the best option for both sides, with the player wanting to prove his worth at the NHL level and the team not willing to commit to an unproven goaltender.