Elvis Merzļikins
Date of birth | April 13, 1994 |
place of birth | Riga , Latvia |
size | 191 cm |
Weight | 85 kg |
position | goalkeeper |
number | # 30 |
Catch hand | Left |
Draft | |
KHL Junior Draft |
2012 , 3rd round, 87th position Dinamo Riga |
NHL Entry Draft |
2014 , 3rd round, 76th position Columbus Blue Jackets |
Career stations | |
2009-2019 | HC Lugano |
since 2019 | Columbus Blue Jackets |
Elvis Merzļikins (born April 13, 1994 in Riga ) is a Latvian ice hockey goalkeeper who has been under contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League since March 2019 .
Career
Merzļikins plays in the butterfly style . He came to Switzerland at the age of 15 and played for the HC Lugano juniors from the 2009/10 season. He made his debut in what was then National League A on September 28, 2013 in a 2-1 win against Lausanne HC . He was soon able to establish himself and was recognized as the best young player of the 2013/14 season at the Swiss Ice Hockey Awards . In the NHL Entry Draft 2014 , the Columbus Blue Jackets pulled him in the third round in 76th place.
In the playoffs of the 2015/16 season , Merzļikins was instrumental in ensuring that HC Lugano moved into the final against SC Bern for the first time since 2006 . His 93.58% capture rate in 15 playoff games was the best of any NLA goalkeeper. Nevertheless, the final series was lost with 1: 4. Over the entire 2016/17 season , the catch quota was only slightly lower at 93.09%. At the Spengler Cup 2016 , Merzļikins was appointed to the All-Star Team.
After six years in the professional field of HC Lugano, Merzļikins signed an entry contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets from the National Hockey League in March 2019 . The rights to him acquired in the Entry Draft 2014 had already expired at this point. With the jackets, he filled the gap left by the departure of Sergei Bobrowski and has since been used regularly as a backup for Joonas Korpisalo .
International
As a member of the Latvian U20 national team , Merzļikins took part in the U20 World Championships in 2012 and 2013 . At the 2016 World Cup , he was appointed to the Latvian national team for the first time . He made his international debut on May 6, 2016 in Moscow when Latvia lost 2-1 to Sweden in overtime. He also played at the 2017 World Cup .
Achievements and Awards
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International
- 2011 Promotion to the top division at the U18 World Junior Championship of Division I, Group A.
- 2011 Best goalkeeper in the U18 World Junior Championship in Division I, Group A.
Career statistics
Status: end of the 2018/19 season
Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
season | team | league | Sp | S. | N | OTN | Min | GT | SO | GTS | Sv% | Sp | S. | N | Min | GT | SO | GTS | Sv% | ||
2011/12 | HC Lugano U20 | Elite A Juniors | 8th | 3.52 | 3 | 5.07 | |||||||||||||||
2012/13 | HC Lugano U20 | Elite A Juniors | 30th | 2.76 | 4th | 3.84 | |||||||||||||||
2013/14 | HC Lugano U20 | Elite A Juniors | 12 | 2.07 | 10 | 1.68 | |||||||||||||||
2013/14 | HC Lugano | NLA | 22nd | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1269 | 45 | 1 | 2.13 | 92.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 80 | 1 | 0 | 0.75 | 97.6 | ||
2014/15 | HC Lugano | NLA | 21st | 11 | 7th | 1 | 1309 | 57 | 1 | 2.61 | 91.3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 2 | 0 | 3.33 | 85.7 | ||
2015/16 | HC Lugano | NLA | 44 | 23 | 13 | 4th | 2713 | 125 | 1 | 2.76 | 92.2 | 15th | 9 | 6th | 930 | 36 | 0 | 2.32 | 93.7 | ||
2016/17 | HC Lugano | NLA | 40 | 19th | 16 | 1 | 2408 | 116 | 3 | 2.89 | 91.6 | 11 | 5 | 6th | 654 | 25th | 0 | 2.29 | 93.3 | ||
2017/18 | HC Lugano | NL | 40 | 19th | 15th | 1 | 2431 | 110 | 4th | 2.72 | 92.1 | 18th | 11 | 7th | 1104 | 40 | 0 | 2.17 | 93.5 | ||
2018/19 | HC Lugano | NL | 43 | 22nd | 18th | 0 | 2559 | 104 | 5 | 2.44 | 92.1 | 4th | 0 | 4th | 273 | 18th | 0 | 3.95 | 87.2 | ||
Elite A Juniors total | 50 | 2.72 | 17th | 2.79 | |||||||||||||||||
National League (A) overall | 210 | 105 | 79 | 7th | 12689 | 557 | 15th | 2.63 | 92.0 | 50 | 25th | 25th | 3078 | 122 | 0 | 2.38 | 93.0 |
International
Represented Latvia at:
year | team | event | result | Sp | S. | N | Min | GT | SO | GTS | Sv% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Latvia | U18 World Championship Div. I. | 1st place | 2 | 2 | 0 | 120 | 1 | 1 | 0.50 | 97.8 | |
2012 | Latvia | U20 World Cup | 9th place | 1 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 14th | 0 | 14.00 | 72.0 | |
2012 | Latvia | U18 World Cup | 9th place | 4th | 1 | 2 | 184 | 15th | 0 | 4.88 | 88.5 | |
2013 | Latvia | U20 World Cup | 10th place | 3 | 0 | 3 | 133 | 13 | 0 | 5.85 | 86.0 | |
2014 | Latvia | U20 World Cup Div. IA | 2nd place | 3 | 1 | 1 | 127 | 5 | 1 | 2.36 | 90.0 | |
2016 | Latvia | WM | 13th place | 5 | 1 | 4th | 268 | 13 | 0 | 2.91 | 91.2 | |
2016 | Latvia | Olympic qualification | 2nd place | 2 | 1 | 1 | 91 | 2 | 0 | 1.32 | 93.1 | |
2017 | Latvia | WM | 10th place | 6th | 3 | 3 | 364 | 12 | 1 | 1.98 | 93.4 | |
2018 | Latvia | WM | 8th place | 7th | 4th | 2 | 360 | 9 | 2 | 1.50 | 94.0 | |
2019 | Latvia | WM | 10th place | 5 | 1 | 4th | 237 | 11 | 0 | 2.78 | 91.4 | |
Juniors overall | 13 | 4th | 7th | 624 | 48 | 2 | 4.61 | 88.5 | ||||
Men overall | 25th | 10 | 14th | 1320 | 47 | 3 | 2.14 | 92.7 |
( Legend for the goalkeeper statistics: GP or Sp = total games; W or S = wins; L or N = defeats; T or U or OT = draws or overtime or shootout defeats; min. = Minutes; SOG or SaT = shots on goal; GA or GT = goals conceded; SO = shutouts ; GAA or GTS = goals conceded ; Sv% or SVS% = catch quota ; EN = empty net goal ; 1 play-downs / relegation ; italics : statistics not complete)
Web links
- Elvis Merzļikins at eliteprospects.com (English)
- Elvis Merzļikins at hockeyfans.ch
- Elvis Merzļikins at hockeygoalies.org
Individual evidence
- ↑ Swiss Ice Hockey Awards 2014. (No longer available online.) Swiss Ice Hockey Federation , September 14, 2014, archived from the original on April 27, 2018 ; accessed on April 26, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Lugano-Elvis has no ear for Stepanek's comforting words. Blick , April 13, 2016, accessed April 26, 2018 .
- ↑ Genoni chases Bührer's record, the SCB their own. Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen , October 20, 2017, accessed on April 26, 2018 .
- ↑ 14. Triumph for Team Canada. Spengler Cup , December 31, 2016, accessed April 26, 2018 .
- ↑ Blue Jackets sign 2014 third round pick Elvis Merzlikins. nhl.com, March 20, 2019, accessed on March 20, 2019 .
Goalkeeper:
Joonas Korpisalo |
Elvis Merzļikins
defender:
Wladislaw Gawrikow |
Scott Harrington |
Seth Jones ( A ) |
Dean Kukan |
Ryan Murray |
Markus Nutivaara |
David Savard |
Zach Werenski
attacker:
Josh Anderson |
Cam Atkinson ( A ) |
Emil Bemström |
Oliver Bjorkstrand |
Brandon Dubinsky |
Pierre-Luc Dubois |
Nick Foligno ( C ) |
Boone Jenner ( A ) |
Riley Nash |
Gustav Nyquist |
Devin Shore |
Alexandre Texier |
Alexander Wennberg
Head Coach: John Tortorella Assistant Coach : Brad Larsen | Paul MacLean | Kenny McCudden | Brad Shaw General Manager: Jarmo Kekäläinen
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Merzļikins, Elvis |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Merzlikins, Elvis |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Latvian ice hockey goalkeeper |
DATE OF BIRTH | April 13, 1994 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Riga , Latvia |