Jet Greaves has put himself right at the center of the Blue Jackets’ biggest question heading into 2026-27: can Columbus finally count on the crease?
Last season, Greaves didn’t just hold up - he took over the job. In a career-high 55 games and 53 starts, he became the clear No. 1 for Columbus and finished with a 26-19-9 record, a 2.60 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. His 55 appearances tied for ninth-most in the league, and across his NHL career he’s now at 36-28-11 with a 2.61 GAA and .913 SV%.
That kind of production is exactly why the Blue Jackets are looking at him as a possible difference-maker in their push to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2019. The numbers behind the performance were strong, too.
Among goaltenders with at least 40 games played at 5-on-5 last season, Greaves ranked eighth in goals saved above expected per 60 at 0.205, according to MoneyPuck. In all situations, he was eighth at 0.302 and also eighth in goals saved above expected with 16.5.
Greaves also carried that form into the offseason. While the Blue Jackets were wrapping up their year, he was playing for Canada at the World Championship and went 6-2-0 in eight games with a 1.88 GAA and .920 SV%.
Columbus is treating that breakout season as real. During the team’s end-of-season media availability, president and general manager Don Waddell said the club was comfortable moving forward with Greaves and Elvis Merzlikins as its 1-2 goaltending tandem.
Greaves, a restricted free agent, is due for a new contract before next season begins, and his arbitration hearing is set for July 23. Merzlikins is entering the final year of his deal.
Head coach Rick Bowness said Merzlikins will still have a chance to win the top job.
"My (exit) meeting with Elvis went very well," Bowness said. "He told me he thinks he's a No.
- I said, 'Good, come to camp, be in great shape, and prove it.'
We'll give him every opportunity. He wants to fight for that No. 1 spot?
Fight for it. You think you're a No. 1 goalie?
Prove it."
The Blue Jackets would certainly welcome more from Merzlikins. Over his career, he’s at 108-111-38 with a 3.22 GAA and .900 SV%.
Last season, he went 14-11-3 with a 3.43 GAA and .883 SV% in 30 games, though he did go 5-1 when Bowness first took over in January. Columbus also brought in veteran Pheonix Copley for extra depth.
For Greaves, the next step is straightforward and a lot tougher: do it again, only over a much bigger load. After proving he can handle NHL work, he now has to show he can carry the responsibility that comes with being the guy over the course of an 84-game season.
That matters because the Blue Jackets are trying to build on a core that mostly stays intact. After missing the playoffs by a slim margin in each of the last two seasons, Columbus is banking on internal growth from several key pieces. Kent Johnson, Sean Monahan and Dmitri Voronkov are looking to bounce back after uneven seasons, Kirill Marchenko is trying to build on another strong year, and Zach Werenski is expected to keep delivering the Norris-caliber play that has made him one of the league’s top defensemen.
Still, the crease may decide the whole thing. Since Sergei Bobrovsky left, Columbus has been searching for a long-term answer in goal, and Greaves has given them something they haven’t had in a while: real hope that the position can be a strength instead of a nightly problem.
The Blue Jackets don’t need him to match Bobrovsky’s Vezina-level peak to make the postseason. They do need the same steady, dependable presence he showed last season - the kind that can swing close games and keep Columbus in the fight.
If that breakout wasn’t a one-year spike, the Blue Jackets may finally have found the stability they’ve been chasing. And that could be the difference between another near miss and a trip back to the playoffs.
In Other News...
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The summer of July 13, 2022 still stands as one of the most stunning days in Blue Jackets history, when Columbus landed Johnny Gaudreau in free agency and instantly changed the mood around the franchise. For a fan base used to watching bigger markets and brighter lights win those kinds of battles, the signing felt like a line had been crossed in the best possible way, with a star winger choosing Columbus and giving the organization a jolt it had been chasing for years.
Gaudreau spent two seasons in Columbus and gave the club exactly the kind of skill and playmaking it had hoped to add, producing 21 goals and 74 points in his first year before following with 60 points the next season. The memories are still tied to the excitement of his arrival and the ways he fit into the lineup, even as the story of what came afterward has left the franchise and its fans carrying a very different kind of weight. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Need Fantilli And Mateychuk To Change Everything
As the Blue Jackets gear up for a season that feels pivotal to their playoff hopes, the focus keeps landing on a few young players who are supposed to help shift the whole outlook. Denton Mateychuk and Adam Fantilli are at the center of that conversation, with Columbus needing both of them to move from promising pieces to reliable difference-makers if the club is going to climb back into the Stanley Cup picture.
Fantillis talent has never really been in question, but the next step is turning that skill into the kind of consistent production the Blue Jackets can count on every night. Mateychuk brings a different kind of urgency, because Columbus badly needs another defenseman who can handle tough minutes and stabilize the back end, and the organization is still waiting to see whether his game can take that kind of leap. [Read more 🡒]