Don Waddell Says That Elvis Merzļikins Is Staying In Columbus
Back on May 29th, new GM Don Waddell appeared on a Columbus radio station for the first time. In that interview he was asked about Elvis Merzļikins and if he felt he was a true #1 goalie. Waddell said, "Great question, I'll answer it this way, four years ago I tried to trade for Elvis. This guy was on a course to be a pure starter for sure. We know what happened in his personal life, we also know he has three years left on his contract. I said It's my job to make sure we put every resource we can, to see if we can get Elvis back where he was. If we don't do that as an organization, we fail, I fail. Now, it may not work, it may work, but that's got to be our number one goal to put all the time and energy into that." Waddell sounded like he already had a plan for Merzļikins.
Fast forward to today, and Aaron Portzline of The Athletic put out an article about Elvis Merzļikins, with Don Waddell speaking about his veteran goalie. Waddell says in the article about Elvis, “Let’s be honest, nobody is going to trade for that contract. Nobody.” Waddell also mentions a buyout but explains why it isn't a good idea.
He also says, “Let’s put all the resources we can toward it,” and “My approach is, ‘Let’s put all our time and effort into this.’ At the end of the day, we can say we did everything possible to put this in the right position. Two outcomes are possible: we succeed or we fail. If we succeed, we keep moving forward. If we fail, well, now we have to figure things out."
With the remarks today, being almost an echo of what he said on his first day in Columbus, we should expect to see Merzļikins in a CBJ uniform in the fall. His position is clear on Elvis.
He got a lot better last season, lowering his GAA to 3.45, from 4.23 the previous season. His save % also got better. Going from .876 in 22-23, to .897 this past season. Now he just needs consistency and good play in front of him, because let's be honest, his defense did him no favors the last couple of years.
Don Waddell inherited a lot of issues with this franchise, and the Elvis Merzļikins contract is one of them. Waddell can keep trying to trade him and hope that someone pulls the trigger, or he can just run Elvis out there and hope he can figure it out.
He will also have Daniil Tarasov breathing down his neck for playing time, and how Elvis reacts to splitting starts is going to be another thing to watch. He didn't react well last season with the Jackets going with a three-goalie system, so how will he react if he's not the #1 goalie? The CBJ will have a new head coach and he'll choose who plays and when.
This is going to be interesting to watch.
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