Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: Is goaltender Jet Greaves seizing his NHL opportunity?

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — A collection of notes, insights, ruminations and did-you-knows gathered throughout the week that was for the Columbus Blue Jackets:

Item No. 1: Jet set?

Jet Greaves wasn’t drafted, but he showed enough ability in the Ontario Hockey League to earn an invitation in September 2021 to play for the Blue Jackets in the Traverse City rookie prospect tournament. He played so well in that tournament that he earned an invitation to training camp.

Greaves looked really good at that first NHL training camp, earning the right to stick around and skate with AHL Cleveland when they broke away from the NHL club and opened their own camp to get ready for the season. Among AHL players, Greaves played so well that he earned an AHL contract.

Are you sensing a pattern?

Greaves excelled with Cleveland, such that the Blue Jackets knew they’d better get him on a two-way NHL deal before they risked losing him to another club. So midway through his first pro season, Greaves signed a three-year, entry-level deal.

The Blue Jackets have been calling up Greaves, mostly on an emergency basis, over the last three seasons, and he’s almost always played well. This summer, as a restricted free agent, new Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell signed him to a two-year deal that includes an NHL one-way contract next season.

At every step of his development, Greaves has blown through the doubters and detractors — He’s too short! He gives up too much of the net! Is he big enough to handle the traffic? — and overachieved. Now, there’s another hurdle for him to clear.

The Blue Jackets will almost certainly spend major resources this summer to overhaul their goaltending. A buyout of starting goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, after three substandard seasons, must be considered, because a trade would be almost impossible. He makes $5.4 million over the next two seasons.

It’s clear that coach Dean Evason and his staff have lost all faith in backup Daniil Tarasov, so how the Blue Jackets handle him as a restricted free agent this summer bears watching.

It’s a huge win for Columbus as Jet Greaves grabs his first career shutout. 👏 pic.twitter.com/lLjLHAckXl

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 12, 2025

And then there’s Greaves, who is certainly making the case for an NHL roster spot next season.

He earned the first NHL shutout of his career on Saturday, making 22 saves in the Blue Jackets’ 7-0 rout of the Washington Capitals. In two starts since Merzlikins left a morning skate early and was said by the club to be injured, Greaves has stopped 61 of 63 shots to lead the Blue Jackets to two must-wins.

The Blue Jackets will either need to trade for a veteran goaltender or sign one in free agency, but it remains to be seen where Greaves will fit in the mix.

Let’s be honest: If the Blue Jackets’ brass thought he was a bona fide NHL starter, he wouldn’t have been recalled to start Game No. 78. He would have come up much sooner, especially in mid-March, when Merzlikins’ game started to head south.

There are concerns about Greaves’ size. Twenty years ago, he would have been a big goaltender at 6 feet, 190 pounds. In today’s game, he’s on the small side, which means he’ll need to be technically sound and incredibly athletic.

Kevin Woodley, a contributing editor to “InGoal Magazine,” sits and reviews film with some of the NHL’s top goaltenders, breaking down their reads, style, tendencies, etc. He met with Greaves at some point last season, he said, and came away impressed.

“I know there’s a bias against goalies who are 6 feet tall,” Woodley said. “I look at Dustin Wolf (6-0) and Juuse Saros (5-11). People used to say they’d never be anything more than a backup, too, right? I’m not saying (Greaves) is going to be those guys, but anybody who says he can’t play the position because of his size should probably look at those guys.

“The way Jet works, his passion for the position … I just feel like (Jet) is going to make it happen.”

The hope, Woodley said, is that Greaves’ athleticism and smarts will offset any side disadvantage he might have. But as Blue Jackets fans have seen, even big goaltenders look small when they’re not in the right position.

“The game has become so much about East-West puck movement,” Woodley said. “Yes, you have to fill nets on open looks, but guys who track well and have patience on their (skate) edges are effective, and those are two of the things that Jet does really well.

“There are nights when teams get to Wolf like Toronto has a couple of times this season on open shots from the slot. But, if you’re allowing open shots from the slot, you’re probably not a good team anyway.”

Stats can be bent in any number of ways to support a theory, but it’s hard to quantify the numbers of a goaltender who has made only eight starts this season.

Woodley’s favorite metric in that instance is Adjusted Save Percentage, which is the measure of how many goals he’s saved beyond expectations per 100 shots faced. Greaves, at plus-3.5 percent — which means he’s saving 3 1/2 goals more than expected per 100 shots — is No. 1 in the NHL. Next on the list is Carolina’s Frederik Andersen at plus-2.0 percent.

When you consider all of Greaves’ 18 NHL outings over the past three seasons, he’s averaging a plus-2.6 percent, which is also best in the NHL in that span. That may not prove empirically that Greaves is a bona fide NHL starter. But it’s an idea worth considering.

If Greaves starts today vs. Washington, it’ll be four games in five days for him. He made it clear he’ll never say no to playing time after Saturday’s game. He might make every start the rest of the way. He might be a permanent resident of Columbus as soon as next year.

“The biggest thing for me is just being where my feet are,” Greaves said. “Doing what I can to help the Monsters win games, and I’m here, doing what I can to help the Blue Jackets win games.”

Greaves has two dressing rooms — one in Columbus, one in Cleveland — full of players who are rooting for him to make it. He’s been Cleveland’s MVP this season. On Saturday, he wore the postgame donkey cap in the dressing room as the players’ pick for player of the game.

It’s worth noting that, at every opportunity, Blue Jackets players praise Greaves for being a hard worker and a great teammate. There’s no drama in his world.

“I don’t read too much of the stuff that’s written,” Greaves said. “But anytime you hear that, it just means so much. What anybody would say about who I am as a person or a teammate is a lot more important to me than anything on the ice. That’s so important.

“I’m really grateful for all of the relationships I’ve been able to make with the guys here. I hold so much love for the guys in this locker room.”

Item No. 2: Legend of Elmo

The Blue Jackets have been around long enough now to build a list of quirks and novelties that only hardcore fans would understand: Vinny Prospal’s “scoreboard” point, Claude Noel’s “play with joy” edict, Matt Calvert’s head-wrapped game winner, and, of course, the unfortunate but hilarious one-game mascot, Boomer.

Please welcome Elmo to the neighborhood.

More than 15 years ago — most likely during the 2008-09 season and almost certainly during a “Sesame Street Live!” event on a day between games — a balloon floated to the top of Nationwide Arena and got stuck. It was an Elmo balloon, depicting the red, friendly, furry, third-person-speaking monster with a falsetto voice who has been part of “Sesame Street” since 1980.

It’s lodged high above the catwalks in Nationwide Arena, too high for arena workers to snatch and pull down. But it’s not out of sight for eagle-eyed fans in certain spots of the arena, who have noticed it high above the scoreboard and wondered how it’s survived all these years.

“It’s stuck on something,” said Derek Dawley, the Blue Jackets senior director of event presentation. “And it’s in a tough spot. We might need a long stick, with what, chewing gum on the end of the stick?”

An Elmo balloon has been stuck to the top of Nationwide Arena for more than 15 years. (Derek Dawley)

Dawley is having as much fun with this as anybody, but it wasn’t his idea to pump up Elmo as part of the Blue Jackets’ game presentation. That was the brainwork of Blue Jackets motion graphics producer Patrick Cantwell and season intern Maggie Murphy, a student at Columbus College of Art & Design.

“They were going back and forth with ideas,” Dawley said. “And they’d both read posts about it on Reddit, with Blue Jackets fans bringing it up and talking about it. They thought it could be fun because there’s an Elmo fire meme (on social media) that you see quite a bit. Maybe this could be fun.

“It went back and forth: ‘Should we go for it? Should we try it out?’ We went for it and we won the game. So, here we are. When the fans gravitate toward something, you go with it, right?”

On Nov. 15, 2024, the Blue Jackets led Pittsburgh 3-2 after two periods at Nationwide. Elmo debuted in the third period when the Jackets scored three goals to pull away for a 6-2 win.

Elmo usually makes his appearance near the end of a TV timeout in the third period, just as play is about to resume. The scoreboard in Nationwide shows the Elmo meme — his arms extended and his hand (paws?) imploring fans to be “louder!” — mixed with intermittent shots of the balloon stuck way up there.

The Blue Jackets aren’t undefeated when Elmo makes an appearance, but they do have one of the better home records (25-10-5) in the NHL this season. At recent games, a member of the Blue Jackets spirit squad has dressed in a full-body Elmo suit, further driving home the point.

And, hey, he’s lasted longer than Boomer.

The Elmo fire meme is shown on the scoreboard at Nationwide Arena during the third period. (Aaron Portzline / The Athletic)

Item No. 3: Take 5, Jordan Harris

Take 5 is a quick, breezy sitdown with a Blue Jackets player, coach or front-office staffer. This week’s features defenseman Jordan Harris:

Favorite restaurant?

In the world? Bistro du Midi, a French restaurant in downtown Boston. Incredible. My wife (Codie Cross) and I found it. Amazing. As for Columbus … this city is really a good restaurant town, probably better than I thought. I’d go with Marcella’s in the Short North.

What’s the best concert you’ve been to?

That’s tough. Probably Zac Brown Band in Fenway Park. Everybody’s outside, the place is rocking. The fit of Fenway, combined with that band … it’s unbelievable. I’m not a huge country music fan, but that was fun. I like a lot of hip-hop, a lot of modern hip-hop, like Future. I like the creativity of it, the beats, the poetry.

Three non-hockey people you’d join for dinner?

I’m going to say my grandfather — my dad’s dad — who passed away when I was really young, maybe even before I was born. I’d like to hear stories of my dad when he was younger. I watched a lot of Duncan Keith growing up, but I’ve never met him. So he’d be good. Then maybe Shaquille O’Neal. That’d be a good time.

Who is the best dresser on the team?

You know who has sneaky good style is Chinny (Yegor Chinakhov). You should check out some of his suits. He has a dark green suit with orange pinstripes. That might sound really funky, but it goes together really nice. I like clothes and shoes, but I don’t go shopping all the time. There’s a place downtown called Soul Classics that’s really nice, like street-wear stuff. Shoes are kind of my thing.

What are you watching these days?

I just finished “The White Lotus.” I liked the first two seasons better. It looks like a great vacation spot. It makes you want to go to Thailand, but probably not with those people (laughs). We’d probably do our own thing on the side.

Item No. 4: Snacks

• Read this quickly before everything changes. Montreal’s 1-0 overtime loss in Toronto on Saturday helped keep the Blue Jackets’ season alive. If the Canadiens had won in regulation, the Blue Jackets would be eliminated. The Blue Jackets must win their three remaining games, beginning with tonight’s game in Washington D.C., then at Philadelphia on Tuesday and home vs. the New York Islanders on Thursday. Similarly, Montreal must lose its remaining two games — Monday vs. Chicago and Wednesday vs. Carolina, both at home — for the Jackets to advance. If the Canadiens lose one of those games in overtime or shootout and lose the other in regulation, the Blue Jackets, provided they win their remaining three games in regulation, would advance via the first tiebreaker (greater number of regulation wins, 30-29).

• All the Blue Jackets can control is what they do, and they face a tall task tonight in Washington. The Jackets are just 1-10 in the last half of back-to-backs this season, one of the worst records in the league.

• If the Blue Jackets score five goals in their final three games, they’ll be the highest-scoring club in franchise history. The seven-goal outburst on Saturday vs. Washington gives the Jackets 254 goals. The 2021-22 club had 258 goals, while the 2018-19 club had 256.

• With a win in the home finale next Thursday vs. the Islanders, the Blue Jackets would finish 26-10-5 at Nationwide Arena this season, tied in wins with the 2017-18 club for second-most in a season (the 2016-17 club went 28-12-1). They could tie that ’16-17 club with 57 home points.

• Adam Fantilli’s two-goal game on Saturday, his fifth multi-goal game of the season and third since March 9, gives him 50 points (27-23-50) on the season. The Blue Jackets now have five 50-point producers this season: Zach Werenski (77), Kirill Marchenko (72), Kent Johnson (55), Sean Monahan (53) and now Fantilli. It’s the third time in franchise history the Blue Jackets have had five players hit 50 or more points. The others: 2009-10 (Rick Nash, 67; Antoine Vermette, 65; Kristian Huselius, 63; R.J. Umberger, 55; Jake Voracek, 50), and 2016-17 (Cam Atkinson, 62; Alex Wennberg, 59; Brandon Saad, 53; Nick Foligno, 51; Sam Gagner, 50).

• It wouldn’t have been considered a slump for most defensemen, but Werenski’s goal just one minute into Saturday’s win over the Capitals snapped a 17-game streak without a goal, his longest streak of the season. He last scored on March 4, when he potted two goals in a 6-2 loss to Tampa Bay, then sent 71 shots on goal without finding the back of the net. His goal on Saturday was his 21st of the season, breaking his own single-season mark by Blue Jackets defensemen. It also put him at 77 points on the season, the fourth-most points — forward or defenseman — in a season for Columbus. With 12 shots on goal in the Blue Jackets’ final three games, Werenski would become only the second player to register 300 shots on goal in a season. Nash did it three times: (329 in 2007-08, 306 in ’11-12, and 305 in ’10-11).

• Harris has been a healthy scratch in 49 games this season. In fact, he was healthy but out of the lineup for 22 straight games before he played on Saturday for the first time since Feb. 8, when the Blue Jackets dressed seven defensemen and Harris played just 2:02. Playing with Erik Gudbranson on the third pair, Harris played a season-high 16 minutes, 50 seconds and had a plus-2 rating.

• There was a lineup spot available for Harris because Jake Christiansen was injured in Thursday’s game vs. Buffalo. But the decision to dress Harris gives you an indication of how the coaching staff feels about veteran Damon Severson, who has now been sat for six straight games and nine games overall this season. Severson has six years remaining on a contract that pays him $6.25 million per year.

• The tributes to former Blue Jackets winger Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew continue to accumulate. On Saturday, the USHL awarded Sioux Falls forward Ethan Wyttenbach the first annual Gaudreau Award, named after the late brothers, who both played in the USHL — Johnny for Dubuque (2010-11) and Matthew for Omaha (2011-12, ’12-13). The award will honor the player who best exemplifies on-ice excellence with joy, enthusiasm, care and responsibility. Guy and Jane Gaudreau were onsite in Sioux Falls on Saturday to present the award to Wyttenback in a pregame ceremony.

Stampede forward Ethan Wyttenbach has been named the inaugural recipient of The Gaudreau Award. USHL Commissioner Glenn Heffernan will present the honor to Ethan prior to puck drop at tonight’s game.

Learn more: https://t.co/0Wj2mhBQRK pic.twitter.com/aGjChElQ6S

— x – Sioux Falls Stampede (@sfstampede) April 12, 2025

• Two members of the Blue Jackets’ 2024 draft class signed amateur tryout agreements with AHL Cleveland last week. Defenseman Charlie Elick (No. 36) and goaltender Evan Gardner (No. 60) both signed three-year, NHL entry deals with the Blue Jackets this spring, but those ELCs don’t start until next season. Both Elick and Gardner could play for the Monsters, who currently hold a playoff spot, and still return to the Western Hockey League next season. However, if they look ready to turn pro, their junior days may be finished. No word yet on when Elick or Gardner will make their pro debuts. The Monsters play this afternoon in Toronto.

• The AAA Ohio Blue Jackets program had two players selected in the Ontario Hockey League priority draft on Saturday. Forward Cruz Cassels, son of former Blue Jacket Andrew Cassels, was chosen by Barrie (OHL) in the 10th round (No. 199), while defenseman Cooper John was picked by Oshawa in the 15th round (No. 297).

(Top photo of Jet Greaves making a save against the Capitals: Russell LaBounty / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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