Mental toughness fuelling Jet Greaves’ rise to stardom in Blue Jackets’ crease
There’s a presence to Jet Greaves. Already.
The young man has 34 NHL games to his name. His 12th start in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ net earlier this week set a career high. He’s just 24. But he exudes earnest confidence. It was on display in the road dressing room Thursday night after the Blue Jackets eked out a 3-2 overtime victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs, with many family and friends in attendance to watch the Cambridge, Ont., native stop 27 of 29 shots.
When The Hockey News’ Ken Campbell pointed out Greaves’ poise in the net and asked him how he developed it, Greaves paused mid answer to say, “Thank you. I appreciate that.” He’s increasingly comfortable being treated as a go-to player on a team with playoff aspirations.
Which is a fascinating development given where Greaves sat in the organizational hierarchy even a year ago. He was an undrafted prospect out of OHL Barrie, signed by the Cleveland Monsters, Columbus’ AHL affiliate, in 2021 after going an entire year without playing organized hockey due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He split 2021-22 between the AHL and ECHL before settling in as the starter with the Monsters. Undersized – he’s listed at six-foot, but that’s generous when you stand eye to eye with him – he was mere organizational depth between Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov a year ago. But Greaves played a pivotal role in pushing Columbus to the brink of a playoff berth after his recall last spring when Merzlikins was out with a concussion. During an unbelievable April, Greaves went 5-0-0 with a video-game-on-rookie-mode .975 save percentage.
The Jackets traded Tarasov to the Florida Panthers in the offseason, evidently seeing enough to make Greaves part of a tandem with Merzlikins, but Greaves had an even bigger opportunity than that. He entered the season with a .924 career SV% across his first 21 NHL appearances and a real chance to take the No. 1 job. But he stayed as grounded as he could be, not wanting to think too far ahead.
“For me, this summer was similar to the last summer,” Greaves told Daily Faceoff. “There were obviously some really good experiences at the end of last season, which was positive, just to learn and see different situations, which goes a long way as far as going into the summer. There are things that I wanted to improve on that I experienced last year and things that I thought were positive that I wanted to keep going. So it was a similar process and just, ‘What can I do to get better and prepare for the upcoming season?’ and taking things one day at a time.”
Whatever he did worked. Where things sit today: Greaves has started 13 games to Merzlikins’ eight. Greaves makes up for his small frame with cat-like reflexes, excellent lateral movement and a battler’s mentality. He was crucial in Thursday’s win, particularly in the first period when the Leafs outshot the Jackets 12-4 and couldn’t find twine.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli told Daily Faceoff. “It’s the way he came in last year. We got really excited about what he was gonna do this season. He’s been carrying it over. He’s done a great job. Tonight we’re not in the same spot if he doesn’t play the way he did. He’s a special player, special human, and he’s great to be in this locker room.”
On the surface, we see solid numbers: a 7-4-2 record and a .906 SV% which qualifies as above-average in today’s NHL. But Greaves has played better than that. The Blue Jackets have been a subpar defensive team so far this season, sitting near the bottom of the league in preventing shots and scoring chances at 5-on-5. Greaves has faced a reasonably high degree of difficulty in his nightly workload. Among 36 goalies to play 10 or more games so far this season, Greaves sits eighth in goals saved above expected per 60, sandwiched between 2024-25 Vezina Trophy runner-up Darcy Kuemper and 2023-24 Vezina runner-up Thatcher Demko. Greaves is playing at close to an All-Star level.
“He’s just super calm in the net,” Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski told Daily Faceoff. “I feel like having that calming presence just settles things down. [The play] can get kind of chaotic and you get scrambling, [but] he’s just patient, he’s calm, he makes the saves he should make, and he has a quiet confidence to him. I feel like this year, it being his first full year, after last season being up for a bit, I just feel like him in the room as well, his presence, his personality is coming out more. You want that from guys, you want them to feel comfortable, and I feel like he does right now. It’s been awesome for us.”
So where does Greaves get that veteran-grade poise? It could be a matter of reps. Greaves has only played 34 NHL games, yes, but he’s shouldered a starting goalie’s workload for years. Including playoff games, he logged 128 appearances at the AHL level alone across the past three seasons. He’s accustomed to seeing a ton of action, and perhaps that’s why he doesn’t get too high or low emotionally.
“I think it takes time,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve learned through experience. I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good people around me teaching me how to play the game. And it helps, too, [that] the guys do such a good job in front of me there. They kept it really clean tonight, clearing the traffic, clearing the secondary plays, and that makes my job a lot easier.”
Greaves and Merzlikins began the season in a platoon, but cooler-headed Greaves might be pulling away from the mercurial Merzlikins. Head coach Dean Evason has tapped Greaves for the start in six of the Blue Jackets’ past seven games, and they’ve gone 4-0-2 over that span.
Playing for $812,500, Greaves is one of the best bargain goaltenders in the league right now. But he also might be one of the best, period. And it looks like he’ll play a major part in the team’s playoff quest all year.
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