Scenario #2: Greaves takes over as the starter, Merzlikins and Tarasov leave the organization, and a veteran backup is brought in.
I want to preface this prediction by saying that it is way too early to be buying full price stock in Jet Greaves right now. He's only played twelve games in the NHL as of the writing of this article. While his results have been sound, he is still a remarkably undersized goaltender who may eventually struggle in the NHL if he can't maintain his athleticism and reaction time abilities.
That said...
Greaves' underlying skillset isn't something I've seen from a goalie since Bobrovsky left town, and Bob has the advantage of being two inches taller and thirteen years more experienced than Jet. From my eye, he uses a hybrid style instead of a straight stand-up one, which I would expect of a netminder of his size.
This requires solid athleticism and stamina to pull off successfully, and Jet has adjusted his technique over the past three seasons almost flawlessly to be good enough for NHL games. He tracks the puck better than practically any goalie I've seen that is his height, his glove side is immaculate and his lateral movement is beautiful.
In other words, all of the foundational pieces are there that will allow Jet to succeed at this level. Extra skills and development will continue to come with time; at the end of the day, Greaves is still just 23 years old and was an undrafted overager in the CHL just three years ago.
How likely is this scenario? I think out of the three we are discussing in this article, this is the least likely to occur now. With the amount of time Don Waddell talks about "taking time" with the CBJ's prospects; I seriously doubt he is in any rush to expose Jet to the rigors of a full-time NHL starting job right this second. They would likely be happy to maintain him as the starter in the AHL or the backup for the big league club for now. Let's take a look at the final scenario.