Rumor: Are the Blue Jackets Really Looking to Trade Elvis Merzlikins?

Over the weekend, trade rumors have really picked up around the Columbus Blue Jackets. But the name that’s come up is surprising: are they really looking to trade Elvis Merzlikins?

When things aren’t going well for a team, rumors are sure to pop up here and there. As is the case with the Blue Jackets, whose 8-14-4 record (20 points) has them sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference as Christmas rapidly approaches. Elvis is rumored to be interested in a change of scenery. Topping that off, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen’s seat seems to be red hot – which means that some kind of move is only inevitable, at this point.

How big could that change be? Well, we know that the team has been actively looking to acquire a center for quite some time. We also know that their efforts have ramped way, way up over the last several weeks. I’ve talked before about them not wanting to acquire an aging veteran out of the bargain bin – I think they want to pick up a guy who can play in this team’s top-six for the next few years, or maybe even more. Those kind of players certainly do not come cheap, both in terms of salary – and acquisition cost.

So the old adage goes: to get good players, you have to give up good players. To get Nick Foligno, they traded Marc Methot. For Seth Jones, they had to give up Ryan Johansen. Blockbuster trades are rare, but they do still happen.

In the case of the Blue Jackets, they’re actually in good shape along the wings, and on defense. They might trim some fat in either of those positions, but I don’t see them moving a big enough piece to get an impactful center. Obviously, they have struggled to find wins, but they’re actually competitive on most nights, and I would make the argument that if they had a legitimate NHL center to take on some heavy minutes in the top-six, a lot of their issues would be cleaned up relatively quickly. This isn’t a terrible team, and the missing piece is pretty obvious at this point.

How do you pick up a young-ish,  good quality center without sending away a handful of your coveted top prospects? Or trading a talented young defenseman, or one of your bounty of quality young wingers? Well, the answer to the equation could very well be trading away your starting goaltender.

Looking at the league in tiers, I can quickly pick out several teams who are legitimately in the running for a Stanley Cup … if they can find capable goaltending. Without running down the entire list, it’s important to note that one of those teams (Edmonton) has been scouting Blue Jacket games heavily for the last couple of weeks. As we know with Kekalainen, he won’t pass up the opportunity to make an impactful change to his roster, if it makes sense. And even though Elvis has been terrific so far this season, so has Spencer Martin. Daniil Tarasov is nearing a return to the lineup, which means something has to give in goal.

With all of that in mind, do the Jackets deal Elvis away in a franchise-altering move? Can they acquire a top-six center that can help them now? Even if it isn’t Edmonton, if a contender with goaltending woes like Carolina, or Toronto, or whoever else comes along asking about his availability, I do think the Jackets will listen. I just don’t think they will deal their starting goaltender for a package of futures or secondary pieces, as the rumors on social media have indicated. This feels like one of those rare blockbuster deals, if anything is going to be done at all.

Odds of an Elvis Merzlikins trade, right now: pretty low, honestly.

Unless the Jackets can get a high end player that can help them right away, and into the future, I just don’t see it happening. I think the teams that are scouting the Blue Jackets, are looking at something else entirely. They have been scouting every game, not just the ones with Merzlikins in goal.