Elvis Merzļikins

Elvis Merzļikins (; born 13 April 1994) is a Latvian professional ice hockey player who is a goaltender for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Merzļikins spent several years playing hockey in Switzerland for HC Lugano, and was awarded the Jacques Plante Trophy as best goaltender in the National League in both 2016 and 2018. Drafted 76th overall by the Blue Jackets in the 2014 NHL entry draft, Merzļikins moved to North America in 2019 and made his NHL debut that year.

Internationally Merzļikins has represented Latvia at the junior and senior level in multiple tournaments.

Playing career

Switzerland Merzļikins joined HC Lugano in 2009, September which allowed him to play in the National League (NL) with a Swiss player license and not count as an import player. Merzļikins made his NL debut with HC Lugano during the 2012–13 season on 28 September 2013 in a 2–1 victory over Lausanne HC. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Merzļikins was voted off as NL Media Most Improved Player and NL Youngster of the Year. Merzļikins was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the third round, 76th overall, of the 2014 NHL entry draft. He posted a .937 save percentage and 2.32 goals against average in 15 playoffs games. His standout season was acknowledged by claiming the Jacques Plante Trophy as the league's best goalie.

On 22 June 2016, he agreed to a three-year contract extension with Lugano, without an NHL out-clause. At the 2016 Spengler Cup, he was named to the tournament's all-star team. In the 2017–18 season, Merzļikins captured his second Jacques Plante Trophy as the league's Goaltender of the Year after finishing fourth in wins and fifth in saver percentage with a 19–15–1 record in 40 contests.

Columbus Blue Jackets At the conclusion of the season with HC Lugano, Merzļikins left Switzerland and agreed to immediately join the Columbus Blue Jackets for the remainder of their season, signing a one-year, entry-level contract, on 20 March 2019. After his arrival he worked with the team during their run in the 2019 NHL playoffs.

His NHL debut came on 5 October 2019 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Merzļikins allowed seven goals in the game, earning the loss. He was sent down to the Blue Jackets American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, on 6 November, later making one appearance with the Monsters before returning to the Blue Jackets. Towards the end of 2019, Merzļikins was not getting many starts, as he had yet to win a game in the NHL. Due to an injury to Joonas Korpisalo on 30 December, Merzļikins started the 31 December game and earned his first NHL win against the Florida Panthers, where he allowed one goal on 37 shots and helped Columbus to a 4–1 victory. On 11 January 2020, Merzļikins recorded his first career NHL shutout in a 3–0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. He finished the season playing in 33 games with a record of 13 wins, 9 losses and 8 overtime losses with 5 shutouts. The Blue Jackets made the 2020 NHL playoffs and were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round. At the end of the season, Merzļikins was named to the NHL's All-Rookie Team, the third member of the Blue Jackets to earn the honour.

In the following offseason on 23 April 2020, the Blue Jackets signed Merzļikins to a two-year contract extension. In the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season of 2020–21, Merzļikins played well with a 2.77 goals against average and a save percentage of .916, but the Blue Jackets could not score and the team missed the playoffs.

During the offseason, while attending a 4 July 2021 party, an errant firework killed fellow Blue Jackets goalie, and Merzļikins' friend, Matīss Kivlenieks, a party that Merzļikins and his wife were also attending. Merzļikins stated that Kivlenieks had saved the lives of his wife and unborn son at the time. Later that summer, on 21 September 2021, Merzļikins signed a five-year, $27 million contract extension with the Blue Jackets. During the following 2021–22 season he struggled; he won more games than he lost, but his individual stats ballooned, with a goals against average of 3.22 save percentage of .907.

In 2022–23 season, Merzļikins missed time with various injuries playing in only 30 games. During the following offseason, the Blue Jackets terminated the contract of goalie coach Manny Legace and brought in a new coach, Niklas Bäckström, and tasked the new coach with getting Merzļikins back to the player he was in his first two seasons.

International play Merzļikins participated in the 2012 and 2013 World Junior Championships as a member of the Latvia junior team. He was selected to the Latvia senior team for the 2016 World Championship, and made his debut in the opening game against Sweden in a 2–1 overtime loss. Merzļikins also played in the 2017 and 2018 World Championships. In the 2018 tournament, he posted a 1.50 goals against average and .940 save percentage in six contests.

Personal life Merzļikins was born in Riga, Latvia. Merzļikins was named after Elvis Presley, of whom his father was a fan. Merzļikins speaks Latvian, English, Russian and Italian. Merzļikins and his wife have two sons. Their first son, born August 2021, is named after former teammate and countryman Matīss Kivlenieks, who died in a fireworks accident on 4 July 2021, protecting Merzļikins and his family. Their second son, born in March 2025, is named after late teammate Johnny Gaudreau, who, along with his younger brother, Matthew Gaudreau, was killed by a drunk driver while riding their bicycles in August 2024.

In April 2022, Merzļikins revealed that the cannon blasts used during Columbus home games triggered anxiety because they reminded him of the fireworks accident that killed Kivlenieks. He stated that the arena cannons were "a problem" for him during the first games of the season and that New Year's fireworks also affected him.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2011–12 HC Lugano Elite. A 8 — — — — — — 3.52 — 3 — — — — — 5.07 — 2012–13 HC Lugano Elite. A 30 — — — — — — 2.76 — 4 — — — — — 3.84 — 2013–14 HC Lugano Elite. A 12 — — — — — — 2.07 — 10 — — — — — 1.68 — 2013–14 HC Lugano NLA 22 11 10 0 1,269 45 1 2.13 .925 1 0 1 80 1 0 0.75 .976 2014–15 HC Lugano NLA 21 11 7 1 1,309 57 1 2.61 .913 1 0 1 38 2 0 3.33 .857 2015–16 HC Lugano NLA 44 23 13 4 2,713 125 1 2.76 .922 15 9 6 930 36 0 2.32 .937 2016–17 HC Lugano NLA 40 19 16 1 2,408 116 3 2.89 .916 11 5 6 654 25 0 2.29 .933 2017–18 HC Lugano NL 40 19 15 1 2,431 110 4 2.72 .921 18 11 7 1,104 40 0 2.17 .935 2018–19 HC Lugano NL 43 22 18 0 2,559 104 5 2.44 .921 4 0 4 273 18 0 3.95 .872 2019–20 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 33 13 9 8 1,816 71 5 2.35 .923 2 1 1 123 4 0 1.96 .946 2019–20 Cleveland Monsters AHL 2 1 1 0 119 3 0 1.52 .949 — — — — — — — — 2020–21 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 28 8 12 5 1,497 69 2 2.77 .916 — — — — — — — — 2021–22 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 59 27 23 7 3,321 178 2 3.22 .907 — — — — — — — — 2022–23 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 30 7 18 2 1,561 110 0 4.23 .876 — — — — — — — — 2023–24 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 41 13 17 8 2,259 130 1 3.45 .897 — — — — — — — — 2024–25 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 53 26 21 5 3,171 168 1 3.18 .892 — — — — — — — — 2025–26 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 30 14 11 3 1,679 95 1 3.40 .883 — — — — — — — —NL totals 216 117 80 12 12,689 557 15 2.63 .920 50 25 25 3,079 122 0 2.38 .930NHL totals 274 108 111 38 15,300 652 12 3.22 .900 2 1 1 123 4 0 1.96 .946

International

Awards and honours Award Year RefNL Youngster of the Year 2014 Jacques Plante Trophy 2016, 2018 International Latvian Player of the Year 2018 NHL All-Rookie Team 2020