Columbus Blue Jackets holding out starting goalie, possibly for trade with Oilers linked
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Columbus Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason hinted the team is holding out goalie Elvis Merzlikins, prompting rumours of an imminent trade.
The Oilers have been connected to Merzlikins numerous times in recent seasons, and Columbus could still be looking to move the 31 year old veteran goalie.
Blue Jackets coach suggests team is holding out Elvis Merzlikins
The Blue Jackets now also have a young promising goalie in Jet Greaves on their roster full time, and he's played the team's last 4 games.
When asked about the decision to pass up on starting Merzlikins at all, coach Dean Evason said there are «circumstances» affecting the decision.
We've talked that there are different circumstances, right? I'm not going to go into all the details of why, but there are different circumstances why Greaves has played four in a row.
- Dean Evason
- Dean Evason
Teams usually use this type of cryptic speech around the trade deadline when holding players out to prevent an injury, which is drawing some attention to these comments from Evason.
The decision to sit Merzlikins clearly isn't coming based off his performance - he's actually been quite good this season with a .908 save percentage in 7 games.
Plenty of Edmonton fans see this as Merlikins being held out for a trade, and hoping the Oilers make a play for the veteran goalie.
We'll see if a move materializes in the next few weeks, or if the Jackets start playing Merzlikins more. For now, it's an interesting and developing situation to watch.
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