Goaltending has to hold up.
The Blue Jackets saw their goaltending take a big step forward last season, thanks mostly to the emergence of Jet Greaves. He steadied the tide and gave this team a lot of quality starts, which allowed them to find their legs in games where they didn't start strong.
Greaves was a top-10 goalie in the NHL by most metrics, and even served as the starter for Team Canada at the World Championships over the summer. However, with all of that aside, we have to mention the obvious: he only has one year of NHL experience.
There is the fear that he could be a flash in the pan. Stranger things have happened, and my guess is that's why his contract became difficult to negotiate this summer. A big part of being a starting goaltender in the NHL is adaptation. Players are going to figure out his weaknesses and exploit them. He has to try to stay one step ahead.
I'm not terribly concerned about Jet in that regard. He has the work ethic, seems to bring the right mindset, and is not really a young player anymore. I think he is more than capable of holding down the #1 (call it 1A) job this season.
The question marks come in those 30-or-so games where #73 needs a night off. Elvis Merzlikins will begin the year on indefinite IR after undergoing shoulder surgery last week.
That means the backup load falls squarely onto the shoulders of journeyman Pheonix Copley. While I love the addition of Copley as a #3/spot duty goaltender, I have to point out the obvious here: this can't be considered ideal.
At 34 years old, he has just 78 career NHL games under his belt (70 starts), with a career .898% save percentage. He's exceeded 20 games just twice in his career, with the most recent being 37 games played with the LA Kings in 2022-23. That's four years ago.
Now, the Blue Jackets don't need Copley (or Merzlikins) to come in and steal every game. But, they also can't afford to throw away that many games because of leaky goaltending. No team could, in fact.
Whoever is backing up Greaves, will need to come in and find enough saves to win at least half of their starts if this team is going to become a serious contender for a playoff spot. Make no mistake about it: goaltending is the make or break position for this team this season.
Of course, as always, it's worth mentioning that the team needs to score goals to win games. Lets dive into that final point on the last slide.
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