Jet Greaves is signed.
The Columbus Blue Jackets and their breakout goaltender have agreed to terms on a three-year contract with an average annual value of $5 million, the club announced Thursday morning.
"Jet is a high-character, talented and athletic goaltender who has become an important part of our hockey club," said President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Don Waddell.
"Our intent always was to get a deal done to ensure he remains a Blue Jacket and we are thrilled that we were able to do so."
JET’S GOT THE NET
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) July 23, 2026
We’ve signed G Jet Greaves to a 3 year, $15 million contract through the 2028-29 season!
CBJ x @OHHeartofitAll pic.twitter.com/zRzbWpp61j
The 25-year-old restricted free agent was heading for what would have been the first arbitration case in franchise history, with the two sides in Toronto for a hearing that was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Thursday.
The team and player were far apart in their initial filings, with the Blue Jackets requesting a one-year deal worth $2.8 million and Greaves' camp, led by agent Pat Brisson, requesting $7.5 million.
That $4.7 million gap between filings was significantly larger than normal, but the sides were able to come to agreement nearly right in the middle of those two figures — the midpoint was at $5.15 million.
According to PuckPedia, the first year of the deal has a $3 million salary with a $2 million signing bonus, while the final two years of the deal carry a straight $5 million salary.
The final year also includes a limited, five-team no-trade clause.
The #CBJ signed 25 y/o G Jet Greaves to a three year $5M cap hit contract
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 23, 2026
Yr 1: $3M Salary, $2M Signing Bonus
Yr 2-3: $5M Salary
5 team M-NTC in Yr 3, deal covers 1 UFA season
Rep'd by Pat Brisson @CAAHockey https://t.co/23y4TyxqUx
The new salary is a big jump for Greaves, who made just over $800,000 in 2025-26.
The raise is well-deserved, with Greaves making 53 starts (in 55 games) and posting a 26-19-9 record in 2025-26. His 2.60 goals against average and .908 save percentage were both above the league average.
The goals against average ranked 7th among 28 NHL goalies who played in at least half (41+) of their teams' games, while the save percentage ranked 6th (and just .04 away from second).
Still, Greaves has only 76 career games in the NHL — less than one full season's worth — a very small sample size for an undrafted goalie. But after finding himself in a rotation under former head coach Dean Evason and initially under new head coach Rick Bowness, Greaves established himself as the number one goalie down the stretch as Columbus vied for a playoff spot.
Greaves started the last six games of the regular season and 11 of the last 13, a sign that Bowness had full trust in his ability.
Both the Blue Jackets and Greaves had plenty of options for a new deal.
A longer-term deal would have kept Greaves under contract for a longer period of time but would have cost the Blue Jackets several more million dollars per season.
A short-term deal, like the sides were heading for in arbitration, would have simply been a stop-gap solution and essentially a punt into the 2027-28 season.
By agreeing to the three-year deal, the Blue Jackets have now extended Greaves one full season into what would have been a year of unrestricted free agency.
The Blue Jackets can now shift their sights to two other restricted free agents — forwards Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger.
Sillinger, who filed for arbitration earlier this month, has a hearing scheduled for July 27. If the sides do not agree before then, the Blue Jackets have requested for a ruling to be made on a one-year deal.
