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Elvis Merzlikins

#90 · Goalie · Toronto Maple Leafs

Born Apr 13, 1994 in Riga, LVA (age 32) · 6'3", 190 lb · Catches left · Drafted 76th overall in 2014 by CBJ (round 3)

Compare with a similar player

The goalies closest to him in games played in 2023-24. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Samuel Montembeault MTL · 41 GP, 0.903 Pyotr Kochetkov CAR · 42 GP, 0.911 Ilya Samsonov TOR · 40 GP, 0.890 Linus Ullmark BOS · 40 GP, 0.915 Marc-Andre Fleury MIN · 40 GP, 0.895

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

020402019-20: 32 games3219-202020-21: 28 games2820-212021-22: 59 games5921-222022-23: 30 games3022-232023-24: 41 games4123-242024-25: 53 games5324-252025-26: 30 games3025-26

Games played by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save % Cap hit
2019-20 CBJ 32 13975 919 848 71 2.35 0.923 $874K
2020-21 CBJ 28 81252 825 756 69 2.77 0.916 $4M
2021-22 CBJ 59 272372 1920 1742 178 3.22 0.907 $4M
2022-23 CBJ 30 71820 889 779 110 4.23 0.876 $5.4M
2023-24 CBJ 41 131781 1266 1136 130 3.45 0.897 $5.4M
2024-25 CBJ 53 262151 1557 1389 168 3.18 0.892 $5.4M
2025-26 CBJ 30 141131 812 717 95 3.40 0.883 $5.4M
7 seasons Career 273 1081113712 8188 7367 821 3.22 0.900

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save %
2019-20 CBJ 2 1100 74 70 4 1.96 0.946
1 season Playoffs 2 1100 74 70 4 1.96 0.946

2023-24 season totals

GP Starts WLOTLSO Shots against Saves Goals against GAA Save %
41 40 131781 1266 1136 130 3.45 0.897

Contract

$5.4MCap hitends in 2027, then UFA
$497KCap dollars per goal above replacement10.9 goals above replacement
$2.7MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$2.7MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 65 ranked goalies whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sep 21, 2021, as an extension of the contract he was on: 5 years and $27M, beginning in 2022-23. It runs through 2026-27, with 3 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2022-23 $5.4M $5.25M $0 $5.25M M-NTC
2023-24 $5.4M $6M $0 $6M M-NTC
2024-25 $5.4M $6M $0 $6M M-NTC
2025-26 $5.4M $5.525M $0 $5.525M M-NTC
2026-27 $5.4M $4.225M $0 $4.225M M-NTC

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Sep 21, 2021 Columbus Blue Jackets Extension 2022-23 to 2026-27 5 $27M $5.4M
Apr 23, 2020 Columbus Blue Jackets Extension 2020-21 to 2021-22 2 $8M $4M
May 15, 2019 Columbus Blue Jackets Extension 2019-20 to 2019-20 1 $874K $874K
Mar 20, 2019 Columbus Blue Jackets Entry-level 2018-19 to 2018-19 1 $925K $1.845M

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2023-24 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2023-24 analytics

Rating

+10.9Goals above replacement36th of 65 goalies
+1.8Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-2.2Goals above averagehis goals saved above expected

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 65 ranked goalies: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. Goals above average is coloured as it is under Shots faced below, where it is taken per 60 minutes.

The goals he saved for his team, compared with a spare-part goalie facing the same shots. A goalie's season is about one-third the goalie and two-thirds chance, so read one year lightly.

-20-10010202019-202020-212021-222022-232023-242024-252025-26Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

Shots faced

Expected goals adds up how likely each shot he faced was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. A goalie who lets in fewer than that has saved goals above expected. Only shots taken while he was in net count, and the league's goalies as a whole come out at zero. What these numbers mean

-2.2Goals saved above expectedexpected goals minus goals against
127.8Expected goals againstfrom 1,795 unblocked attempts
130Goals againstwhile he was in net
0.897Save %0.899 expected from his shots

Goals saved above expected, taken per 60 minutes, and save % are coloured by where they rank among the 70 goalies who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. The two goals against tiles are left plain, since they follow how much he played.

Goals saved -0.06 above expected per 60 minutes41st
Shot difficulty 7.1% chance per attempt faced87thA higher bar means his team gives up more dangerous shots.

Each bar shows the share of goalies he is ahead of, among the 70 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest this season.

050100Game 10Game 20Game 30Game 40Allowed 130Expected 127.8

The goals he was expected to let in and the goals he did, as the season went on. When the allowed line runs below the expected line, he is saving more than his shots were worth.

Where he was shot at

Every unblocked attempt he faced this season, with his net on the right. Darker red means more attempts from that spot, and each dot is a goal. "Show every shot" switches to a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result Decision Shots against Saves Goals against Save % TOI
Mar 30, 2024 vs PIT W 4-3 (SO) W 33 30 3 0.909 64:26
Mar 26, 2024 @ ARI L 2-6 L 35 29 6 0.829 59:59
Mar 22, 2024 @ COL L 1-6 L 50 44 6 0.880 60:00
Mar 17, 2024 vs WPG L 1-6 L 27 21 6 0.778 59:38
Mar 14, 2024 vs OTT L 2-3 (SO) OTL 37 35 2 0.946 65:00
Mar 12, 2024 @ MTL L 0-3 L 4 1 3 0.250 05:48
Mar 2, 2024 @ CHI W 5-2 W 28 26 2 0.929 60:00
Feb 28, 2024 @ NYR L 1-4 L 28 26 2 0.929 58:37
Feb 25, 2024 vs NYR W 4-2 W 40 38 2 0.950 59:42
Feb 21, 2024 @ ANA W 7-4 2 0 2 0.000 03:55
Feb 20, 2024 @ LAK L 1-5 L 35 30 5 0.857 60:00
Feb 17, 2024 @ SJS W 4-3 W 31 28 3 0.903 58:52
Feb 10, 2024 vs TBL L 2-4 L 36 33 3 0.917 58:26
Jan 30, 2024 @ STL W 1-0 W, SO 21 21 0 1.000 59:46
Jan 27, 2024 @ VAN L 4-5 (OT) OTL 34 29 5 0.853 64:01
Jan 23, 2024 @ EDM L 1-4 L 24 20 4 0.833 59:46
Jan 19, 2024 vs NJD L 1-4 L 33 29 4 0.879 60:00
Jan 15, 2024 vs VAN W 4-3 (SO) W 30 27 3 0.900 65:00
Dec 29, 2023 vs TOR W 6-5 (OT) 14 12 2 0.857 20:00
Dec 27, 2023 @ NJD L 3-4 (OT) OTL 35 31 4 0.886 62:06
Dec 21, 2023 vs WSH L 2-3 (OT) OTL 32 29 3 0.906 64:07
Dec 14, 2023 @ TOR W 6-5 (OT) W 48 43 5 0.896 63:26
Dec 5, 2023 vs LAK L 3-4 (OT) OTL 39 35 4 0.897 60:33
Dec 1, 2023 vs OTT W 4-2 W 43 41 2 0.953 59:57
Nov 29, 2023 vs MTL L 2-4 L 30 27 3 0.900 58:56
Nov 26, 2023 @ CAR L 2-3 L 43 40 3 0.930 58:55
Nov 24, 2023 @ NJD W 2-1 W 38 37 1 0.974 60:00
Nov 22, 2023 vs CHI W 7-3 W 36 33 3 0.917 60:00
Nov 18, 2023 @ WSH L 3-4 L 26 22 4 0.846 58:47
Nov 16, 2023 vs ARI L 2-3 L 32 29 3 0.906 56:40
Nov 14, 2023 vs PIT L 3-5 L 40 36 4 0.900 58:54
Nov 12, 2023 @ NYR L 3-4 (SO) OTL 40 37 3 0.925 65:00
Nov 6, 2023 @ FLA L 4-5 (OT) 10 7 3 0.700 06:09
Nov 4, 2023 @ WSH L 1-2 L 27 25 2 0.926 58:03
Nov 2, 2023 vs TBL W 4-2 W 29 27 2 0.931 60:00
Oct 30, 2023 @ DAL L 3-5 L 32 28 4 0.875 57:13
Oct 26, 2023 @ MTL L 3-4 (OT) OTL 29 25 4 0.862 64:17
Oct 24, 2023 vs ANA L 2-3 (OT) OTL 27 24 3 0.889 61:44
Oct 21, 2023 @ MIN W 5-4 (OT) W 28 24 4 0.857 63:02
Oct 14, 2023 vs NYR W 5-3 W 25 24 1 0.960 39:54
Oct 12, 2023 vs PHI L 2-4 L 35 33 2 0.943 58:01