Columbus' crease situation just got murkier. Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins underwent shoulder surgery this week after reporting discomfort during offseason workouts, and the team is not putting a date on his return.
Spittin' Chiclets and Daily Faceoff both put the same update out Thursday: surgery successful, no timeline. That's the kind of update that sounds fine on its face but is actually the scary version — a set recovery window at least gives you a target. "No timetable" means Columbus is flying blind into camp.
Blue Jackets’ Elvis Merzlikins undergoes shoulder surgery, no timeline for return https://t.co/LCLHekGEbn
GM Don Waddell said Merzlikins flagged the shoulder discomfort a few weeks ago during summer training, an MRI followed, and surgery got the green light from there. He's 32, entering his seventh season in Columbus after the Blue Jackets took him in the third round back in 2014, and he posted a 14-11-3 record with an.883 save percentage last year — solid, unspectacular, exactly the kind of veteran presence a rebuilding team leans on in net.
The Blue Jackets already hedged this spring by signing veteran Phoenix Copley to a one-year, $850,000 deal on July 1, pairing him with Jet Greaves as depth behind Merzlikins. That move looks a lot smarter now. If Merzlikins isn't ready for the opener against Buffalo on October 1, Greaves and Copley are the ones holding down the crease while Columbus waits on updates.
Training camp opens September 16, the preseason kicks off five days later against Detroit, and none of that is on hold for one goaltender. But a healthy Merzlikins was supposed to be the stabilizing piece in front of a young, still-developing roster. Now it's a watch-and-wait situation, and "a few weeks" for his next evaluation is about as much clarity as anyone's getting for now.