After reports surfaced about the Columbus Blue Jackets looking to overhaul their crease this summer, it’s time to look at ideas for how they can rebuild their goaltending position heading into the 2025-26 season.
Right off the hop, the connection between GM Don Waddell and Frederik Andersen stood out as the most logical fit. But with Andersen recently signing a one-year extension with the Carolina Hurricanes, he’s now off the market.
If the Blue Jackets can figure out what to do with Elvis Merzlikins and his contract, they could opt not to qualify Daniil Tarasov, which would leave Jet Greaves as the only goalie under contract.
Greaves has played well enough over the past few months to earn a look as a backup or tandem goalie at the NHL level. That means they should target experienced veteran options who could mentor Greaves next season.
After scanning the upcoming free agent goalie market, not many names stand out as clear upgrades over Merzlikins.
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Jake Allen of the New Jersey Devils and Alex Lyon of the Detroit Red Wings could give the Blue Jackets a fresh look. A few other names like Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov are available too, but neither would be an actual upgrade on Merzlikins — so it wouldn’t make sense to move laterally or downgrade.
If they were to bring in Allen or Lyon, it should be in a tandem role with Greaves to help his development.
Realistically, the better play might be to keep Merzlikins, use Greaves as the backup, or explore a trade for another starter and move Merzlikins as part of that deal.
2025 Columbus Blue Jackets Free Agent Targets: John Tavares
This summer, <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets/author/spencer-lazary">Spencer Lazary</a> and I will continue our series with more potential free agent targets that could be on the market on July 1st.
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