With arbitration hearings just around the corner, things have remained very silent from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Today, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman made the arbitration filings public, pointing out how far apart the two sides are in their comps.
Arbitration filings are in for Columbus and Jet Greaves
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 21, 2026
Team: $2.8M
Player: $7.5M
Remember these are strategic, but that is quite a gap
Hearing Thursday. Once it starts, there can be no settlement
Of course, as Friedge mentions, these are strategic from both sides. Ultimately, if this does get to arbitration, the number would probably wind up somewhere near the middle, though I would guess closer to the player's request in this instance.
This is a stark reminder of how differently a player can be viewed from either side of the equation. We hoped that Jet would be signed to his new contract by this point, but it still feels like the Blue Jackets are waiting for that Adam Fantilli number to land.
At that point, they will likely pivot quickly to signing Greaves and RFA Cole Sillinger; but with arbitration hearings just around the corner, the heat is on. The team has never had a player get to one of these hearings, and we would love to see that remain true this summer.
What does Jet's next contract look like?
With just one full NHL season under his belt, I have a very hard time seeing an arbitrator award Jet Greaves with the AAV he's asking for here. If this gets to arbitration, I would expect the team-elected 2-year term to come in at roughly $5.5 million per season.
AFP Analytics has him at just over $6 million on a 4-year term. I don't think that would be an overpayment, but I do think the team has some leverage here, because of the short sample size of work.
It would be better if they could get that signed themselves. Maybe they could coax him into more term. A 3-4 year deal with that $5.5m AAV would make a lot of sense for both sides. Greaves would get one more crack at a big contract as a 29-year-old.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets would have some stability in their crease. Jet just posted top-10 metrics in almost every meaningful category, behind a team that still had a lot of issues on defense. He sure seems like an ingredient to the winning formula here.
I think it would be best if the team came to terms with him, rather than letting him come out of an arbitration hearing potentially upset. The next 48 hours or so will be fascinating to watch. Buckle up.
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