Merzlikins put the trade request in last season, but it came to no avail. Now, with Waddell taking over as general manager, he has a whole new challenge ahead of him. When talking about the goaltender, Waddell was quite frank, stating that no other team in the league would want him.
At the same time however, the new general manager also revealed that he has been a fan of Merzlikins for some time. He even tried to trade for him when he was general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes. Now, he is committed to building him back up to a solid NHL starting netminder.
It seems that Waddell simply does not want to give up an asset to move on from Elvis' contract. After all, it really is not that hard to move a player like Merzlikins as long as you are throwing in a sweetener. As such, his comments about no one wanting to trade for him is a bit disingenuous. However, if Merzlikins does have a bounce back season, perhaps he can actually get an asset in return later this year or possibly even next summer.
