The Columbus Blue Jackets’ hopes to make an appearance in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs are pretty well cooked. Mathematically, there’s still a chance, however, it is very unlikely. They trail the Montreal Canadiens, who sit eight points ahead of them with only six games left on the schedule. We’re just waiting for the proverbial fat lady to appear and begin to sing. A season that had many positive moments for Columbus again falls short of the ultimate goal of the playoffs.
In years past, there have been many scapegoats. In the last few years, injuries have been a predominant excuse thrown about by those with a vested interest in the team. That was an issue for sure, but the team was still in a playoff spot despite their key injuries in this campaign. There has been talk of inexperienced coaching, which led to the dismissal of both Brad Larsen and Pascal Vincent. That’s been remedied by the hiring of Dean Evason, who has brought a steady hand to the bench. The overloaded quantity and subsequent logjam of players for each position had been a factor in the roster that Don Waddell trimmed upon taking the job as general manager this past summer.
The one scapegoat and problem with the roster that remains is the Blue Jackets’ troubled goaltending. Fixing that has to be a priority for this team this offseason, or history will be doomed to repeat itself. There has to be an option somewhere in the NHL to fix what ails their leaky crease.
Elvis Merzlikins Needs Help
It’s possible that no Blue Jacket in history has taken more flak in his time with the organization than Elvis Merzlikins. This is a guy who has been beaten down at every possible opportunity. If the team loses a game, social media is set ablaze with “It’s time for Elvis to leave the building” posts. Sometimes fairly, most times not.
With the five-year contract extension Merzlikins signed in 2021, his $5.4 million average annual value (AAV) was pretty well untradeable in a flat cap environment. Although he had one successful season after the deal was signed, the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons were disastrous. Through those campaigns, he had the worst save percentage (.889), second-worst goals-against average (3.78), and third-fewest wins (20 in 67 starts) of the 53 goalies that played at least 50 games. Abysmal.
Not all of that is his fault, because the team around him was a trainwreck. The defense was a sieve in front of him. Young, inexperienced, and poorly coached, it was a Kobayashi Maru-level no-win scenario. On top of that, the loss of two teammates in Matiss Kivlenieks and Johnny Gaudreau surely put more strain on his mindset in what is already the most mentally demanding position in team sports. There aren’t many who have experienced the same level of adversity in such a public way, and yet still want to show up to the rink and do their job every day. I’m not sure I’d have the mental fortitude to do it.
Having said that, the numbers show that it’s clear: the ship has sailed on Merzlikins as the team’s number one franchise goalie. While that’s the case, it shouldn’t necessarily be a reason to jump to a buyout or give up a high draft pick for another team to eat his salary. He could use someone to help reduce the workload on his plate. We’ve seen success with the tandem method in the Washington Capitals’ organization with Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren, and over the last couple of years in the Boston Bruins’ crease with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. It would serve the Blue Jackets well to explore a similar situation – Merzlikins still has his moments of occasional brilliance.
Tarasov Is Not The Answer
When considering a tandem approach to the goaltending, one has to look at their current situation and evaluate the viability of that concept with the current personnel. Merzlikins has been successful in that situation with Joonas Korpisalo when he first entered the league, he’d be able to do so again. Daniil Tarasov is a different situation entirely.
Related: Blue Jackets’ Tarasov Missed His Chance To Be Long-Term Solution
While the Russian netminder has had his moments, my colleague William Espy wrote a piece outlining the situation. If Tarasov is going to break out and become a legit NHL goalie, it’s more than likely that it won’t happen in a Blue Jackets’ uniform. His Jackets’ tenure has been injury-laden and bereft of success. Jet Greaves has really grown in his starting role with the American Hockey League’s Cleveland Monsters. At the very least, he should be considered as an option for something different at the position in Columbus next season.
If the Blue Jackets are able to find another goalie on the market, they should consider it, even if it involves a more significant level of expense. The one trade from the last offseason that keeps coming to my mind is the one that sent Thompson to the Capitals for two third-round picks. Why wasn’t that a trade that the Blue Jackets were sniffing around? Where can Columbus find the next Thompson? Someone who has already proven to be capable of playing as a 1A-1B tandem goalie to help Merzlikins carry the load until the end of his contract.
Despite the leaps forward this season, the Blue Jackets’ team save percentage is 28th best in the NHL. Their .890 stat is only better than the Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, and Philadelphia Flyers, who are all lottery teams. It’s also a mark well below the league median of .902. The third season of the Merzlikins-Tarasov tandem hasn’t shown any positive strides. 2024-25 has proven to be another season of the Blue Jackets missing the playoffs, and goaltending being a key issue. Waddell and his management team cannot afford to run back the same two guys in 2025-26.
