Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Elvis Merzlikins was born April 13, 1994, in Riga, Latvia. He is a goaltender in the NHL.

At the conclusion of the season with 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.

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 Cleveland Monsters of the AHL 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.

On 23 April 2020, the Blue Jackets signed Merzļikins to a two-year contract extension.

On 21 September 2021, Merzļikins signed a five-year, $27 million contract extension with the Blue Jackets.