As the summer got under way, we knew the Blue Jackets were going to have to give Jet Greaves a massive bump in pay. But, as time wore on, it seemed like the two sides were at an impasse, with a gap that could not be closed.
However just as arbitration approached, they found a way to meet in the middle. The result for the team is that they get their young starting goaltender locked up for three years. For the player, this is a life-altering deal that did not come easy.
Jet's path to the NHL was not a direct flight.
Jet Greaves did not enter the Blue Jackets organization with much fanfare. In fact, when they signed him to an entry level contract in February of 2022, I don't think many of us saw him as anything other than a depth addition for the organization. Maybe a starting goaltender for the Cleveland Monsters, with some honing.
That's because Jet was an undrafted goaltender, who does not come with the size you typically see in NHL netminders. He was coming off of a season where there were no games played, and had just 60 games combined in the OHL in the two seasons prior.
He was invited to the Blue Jackets' prospect camp in 2021, in part because they had nobody else to fill the crease. This was during the COVID pandemic, so I would imagine that he was just happy to find a place to get some reps in.
But, the team's scouting staff clearly knew something that nobody else did. They saw potential in the young netminder, and wanted to give him an opportunity to showcase himself.
All he did at that camp, was impress everyone with his attitude, work ethic, and ability. He parleyed that into a contract with the Monsters, before the big club finally extended him an ELC near the end of that first season.
Since then, Jet has patiently worked at his craft and waited for his opportunity. He played three more seasons within the organization, mostly with the Monsters; quietly establishing himself as a reliable starting goaltender in the AHL.
This past season, with a lot of question marks surrounding the goaltending position in Columbus, he stepped in and took the starting job away from Elvis Merzlikins. Not only did he win the job, he excelled in it; quietly posting some of the best metrics in the entire NHL.
Jet Greaves, signed 3x$5M by CBJ, is a goalie. He's only played 76 career games but he has a .913 sv% in them compared to an expected sv% of 0.897, the best differential in the league in that span. pic.twitter.com/0oKR8sIs7E
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 23, 2026
Now, he gets rewarded with a $15 million dollar contract that gives him a massive pay increase; while also allowing him to get a big crack at the whip in a few years' time. If he can continue to play at the level he did this past season, that next contract will be a whopper.
In all of my time watching hockey, Jet Greaves is one of the easiest players to root for. He's a competitor in every sense of the word, willing to do whatever it takes to improve and help his team win. I hope this is only the beginning of his time in Columbus.
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