Quoting: KingofRnR
Is Merz any better than Vitek!? I don’t think so
Quoting: jojoyutz
Elvis is far better - .905 on a bad team, vitek .890 on a good team.
To add:
Vanecek: -0.372 GSAx/60, -0.007 SV%Ax, -1.86 Wins Above Replacement, 74th of 75 goalies to play 5+ NHL games this season (not an NHL goalie at the moment)
Elvis : +0.047 GSAx/60, +0.001 SV%Ax, 0.22 Wins Above Replacement, 39th of 75 goalies to play 5+ NHL games this season (the definition of a league-average goalie at the moment)
Elvis is an overpaid fringe starter/backup whose inconsistencies probably improve on a better team. Vanecek is statistically unplayable right now.
Goalies don't tend to have a lot of trade value, so I think you could get Columbus to retain up to $1M on Elvis with the deal here. Even with that, I think Columbus accepts.