- Jet Greaves signs a three-year, $15 million deal to stay in Columbus
- The contract carries a $5 million cap hit and runs through 2028-29
- Read below for how the deal erased a $4.7 million arbitration gap
Jet Greaves won’t need an arbitrator to sort out his next contract.
The Blue Jackets signed the 25-year-old goalie to a three-year deal worth $15 million on Thursday, a $5 million cap hit that keeps him in Columbus through 2028-29. Both sides had a hearing on the calendar, and this settlement makes it go away.
Columbus made it official Thursday afternoon:
Getting here took some work. Greaves filed for arbitration at $7.5 million, the club countered at $2.8 million, and that $4.7 million gap was wide enough to worry people around the team. A $5 million landing spot splits closer to the middle than either number pointed to.
Elliotte Friedman reported the two sides settled before it ever reached a hearing:
Greaves earned the raise. He went 26-19-9 with a 2.60 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage last season, all career highs, across 55 games and 53 starts. His 26 wins led the team, and two shutouts helped keep Columbus in the playoff race deep into the spring.
It’s a big jump for a goalie who wasn’t handed anything. Greaves climbed through the AHL in Cleveland and grabbed the Columbus net when the chance came, turning a fill-in role into the busiest workload of his career.
The Blue Jackets have their crease settled for three more years now, and Greaves gets to prove the number right instead of arguing about it in a hearing room.
