Blue Jackets Elvis Merzlikins signs two-

lovelystyle

Just days after signing their starting  Toronto Raptors Hats goalieto a contract extension, the Columbus Blue Jackets have done the same with their second-stringer.The team announced on Thursday that they agreed to terms ona two-year contract extension with rookie Elvis Merzlikins. The Riga, Latvia native was a standout performer in his first season and was recently ranked the ."I'm really excited and I'm really happy because I like everything here. I like the city, I really love my teammates and I like the organization, especially the fans," Merzlikins said on a call with reporters Thursday evening. "I felt when I came here in the start of the season I felt likeI'm already home. I didn't have the best start of my NHL career, maybe, but still  Fred VanVleet Jersey the fans, they didn't abandon me. They stayed with me, they took me with open arms and even if there was a bad game they were always with me and even when we wongood games they were always with me. So I think Malachi Flynn Jersey  it's a perfect club and perfect city to be here and perfect people around."Weve believed for several years that Elvis Merzlikins was the best goaltender outside the NHL while he was playing in Switzerland and this year he has shown that he has the ability and drive to be a very good goaltender in this league, Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in the team's pre s release. He is quick, athletic and driven to succeed and we are excited to see what the future holds for Elvis and our hockey Yuta Watanabe Jersey  club. The Blue Jackets have signed goalie Elvis Merzlikins to a two-year contract extension. |  Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) The 26-year-old Merzlikins played for Swi s teamHC Lugano from 2011-2019, winning the Jacques Plante Trophy for the best goalie in Switzerland twice (2016, 2018). He was selected by Columbus in the third round of the 2012 draft before finally making his NHL debut this season.In his first year in the league, Merzlikinsstarted 31 games, posting a13-9-8 Muggsy Bogues Jersey  record. He ledall rookie netminders in GAA (2.35) and shutouts (five)and ledthe entire NHL in GAAbetween Dec. 31 and the pause in the season on March 12. The netminder also posted a .923 save percentage, which puthim sixth amongNHLgoalieswith a minimum of 20 games."I think it's going to be weird and hard maybe because the last time when profe sional players play like this was whenyou were kids ... when it was just your mom and your pops who were looking at your games," Merzlikins said when asked about the po sibility of finishing the season without fans. "It's going to Hakeem Olajuwon Jersey  be weird I think, maybe belike a practice. I have no idea because I never had thisexperience."For me personally, yeah, everybody knows that I'm trying to steal the energy from the fans, fromatmosphere andfrom everything.I'm not going to have anybody who I can steal that energy.It's going to be different but we want to play hockey and we are really mi sing the hockeyso, maybe  C.J. Miles Jersey we are going to be so happy to play that hockey gamethat we're not going to realize there are no fans."The news of his extension comes le s than a week after the Blue Jackets' starter, Joonas Korpisalo, put pen to paper on a . Korpisalohad the best season of his NHL careerthis year, winning 19 of the 37 games he played and named to his first All-Star game. Hesuffered a knee injury earlier this year that kept him out for almost two months, during which time Merzlikins deputized in goal.With both of their  Serge Ibaka Jersey top netminders locked up for the near future, the Blue Jackets have found stability at the position despite the departure of Sergei Bobrovsky last offseason. Merzlikins and Korpisalo are also both still a few years away from the age of 30, so we could be seeing the two battle it out for the starting job for years to come.