The Blue Jackets’ path in 2026-27 starts in net, and the picture is pretty clear: Jet Greaves is the guy, Elvis Merzlikins is the backup, and Columbus is betting that a steadier goaltending setup can push the team toward the postseason.
Greaves is expected to carry the load again after a breakout 2025-26 season. He went 26-19-9 with a 2.60 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage and two shutouts, and the organization is still working toward a long-term deal for him. He is set for an arbitration hearing on July 23.
His rise has been steady. Greaves barely saw the ice in his first two seasons from 2022-2024, appearing in just 10 games and posting a 3-7-0 record with a .912 save percentage.
Then came a strong step forward in 2024-25, when he played 11 games and finished 7-2-2 with a .938 save percentage, a 1.91 GAA and two shutouts. He closed that season on a 5-0-0 run with a 0.75 GAA.
Last season was the real breakout. Greaves made 53 starts, won 26 games, logged 35 quality starts and finished with 18.6 goals saved above average, good for third in the league behind Logan Thompson and Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy.
For 2026-27, the projection has him at 30-21-6 with a 2.52 GAA, a .912 save percentage and three shutouts.
Merzlikins’ season took a different turn. After a turbulent 2025-26, he settled into the second-goalie role once Greaves took over the net. Columbus general manager Don Waddell has made it clear he wants three NHL-caliber goalies in the organization, and the recent addition of Pheonix Copley fits that approach.
The Blue Jackets should still use Merzlikins behind Greaves, though the schedule will expand to 84 regular-season games in 2026-27, which should create a little more work for him. Columbus is hoping a lighter load helps him rediscover the form he showed before his big extension.
Merzlikins finished 2025-26 with a 14-11-3 record, a 3.40 GAA, a .883 save percentage and one shutout. There is at least some reason for optimism, though.
Head coach Rick Bowness liked him when he first came in, giving him six starts in his first 11 games behind the bench. In that stretch, Merzlikins went 5-1-0 with a 2.03 GAA and a .925 save percentage.
The projection for him in 2026-27 is 12-9-6 with a 3.14 GAA, a .892 save percentage and one shutout.
Bowness has already shown he will ride the hot hand in goal, and more often than not that was Greaves. If both goalies are healthy and playing well, Columbus can keep them fresh for the stretch run, which is exactly what the club needs.
The math is straightforward enough. A 42-30-12 finish would give the Blue Jackets 96 points, a total that has been enough to grab the second wild-card spot or better in three of the last five seasons. Add a few more wins, and Columbus would be sitting comfortably at 100 points or more, a number every team that reached it has hit over the last five seasons.
The Blue Jackets open the season Thursday, Oct. 1 at home against the Buffalo Sabres, and they will face four Metropolitan Division opponents in the first month. That means the goaltenders will be tested right away, and Columbus will need them sharp from the jump if it wants to end a six-season playoff drought.
In Other News...
Jet Greaves Just Brought Back A Familiar Blue Jackets Anxiety
Jet Greaves has already given the Blue Jackets a reminder of how quickly a goalie story can turn. The Cambridge, Ontario native went undrafted in 2019, worked his way into pro hockey with the Cleveland Monsters in 2021, and eventually earned a three-year entry-level deal from Columbus. Since then, he has moved between the AHL and NHL, and his brief April 2025 call-up gave the organization a glimpse of what he can do when everything clicks.
Now the next step is less about whether Greaves fits in Columbus and more about how the sides handle the business side of his rise. He is expected to remain with the Blue Jackets for the upcoming season, but the contract conversation has picked up a different edge after his World Championships showing, which may have made an easy agreement harder to find. For a team that has spent years trying to stabilize its crease, even a promising young goalie can bring back a familiar kind of anxiety. [Read more 🡒]
Former Blue Jackets Forward Just Landed The Chance Columbus Never Gave Him
Hunter McKown is getting another crack at an NHL path, and this one comes with a familiar sort of grind. The former Blue Jackets forward has signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Canadiens, a move that keeps him in the mix after spending much of last season in the AHL and after previously working his way through Columbus organization.
For Columbus, it is another reminder of how thin the margin can be for young forwards trying to stick. McKown has not appeared in the NHL since the 2022-23 season, and this latest contract gives him a fresh opportunity to push for more than depth duty in Montreal while the Blue Jackets can only watch a player they once had in the system try to turn a new opening into something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Fans Wont Love Why Marchenko Rumors Are Heating Up
Kirill Marchenkos name is already back in the rumor mill, and that is not the kind of background noise Blue Jackets fans were hoping to hear after a summer that seemed to settle things down. Montreal had shown interest earlier in the offseason when reports surfaced that Marchenko might not be headed for a long-term extension, but Columbus general manager Don Waddell said the winger would be staying put as the team headed into the season.
Still, NHL analyst Marco DAmico suggested the door may not be shut for good, pointing to how quickly circumstances can change once the season starts and pressure builds on front offices. For Columbus, the concern is obvious: if the Blue Jackets stumble or the organizational direction shifts, a player the club wants to keep could become a name that gets dragged back into trade chatter before long. [Read more 🡒]