The Columbus Blue Jackets team up with the Los Angeles Kings to acquire Goalie Jeff Zatkoff.
Two trades in one day for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Both for minor leaguers and both for “future considerations”. The Cleveland Monsters are adding goalie Jeff Zatkoff to their ranks after the swap with Los Angeles.
Zatkoff is a 30-year-old Michigander who played college hockey at Miami University. He has bounced around since being drafted by the Kings in 3rd round in 2006. Zatkoff broke into the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins in during their 2015-2016 Stanley Cup run.
Due to injuries he ended up starting in 18 games during that year due to injuries to Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray. He went 12-6-2 in the regular season. Zatkoff also started the first two games of the playoffs for the Pens, splitting his starts.
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He’s one of us now so we can’t hold that service against him.
Rough Pro Start for Kivlenieks
The trade for Zatkoff was to bolster the goalie corps in Cleveland. Matiss Kivlenieks has been having a rough first year in the AHL. The 21-year-old was the MVP of the USHL, the top junior league in the U.S. last season. This year, among men, he is giving up 3.22 goals per game and only has an .888 save percentage.
Kivlenieks is young and should be fine but is best suited backing up in the AHL or in the ECHL to gain some confidence. Goalies take much longer to come into their own and Matiss still has plenty of time to grow and raw potential that can be measured in tonnage.
Zatkoff is signed through the rest of year. Hopefully he can help the Monster salvage a few wins down the stretch.