‘I love being in Columbus’: Greaves on his priorities in contract negotiations
Jet Greaves and the Columbus Blue Jackets were able to avoid arbitration and agree to terms on a three-year, $15-million contract on July 23, which would pay the goaltender an average annual value of $5 million through the 2028-29 season.
The deal came just hours before an arbitration hearing was set to take place between the two sides, with earlier reports suggesting there was a nearly $5-million salary gap in negotiations.
On Thursday’s episode of The Sheet, host Jeff Marek asks Greaves about the negotiation process and what the conversations between him and his agents were like going into July 1.
Jeff Marek: Let’s pull the certain back on the process of you arriving on your deal. At what point does it begin? You’re represented by CAA, so at what point are you sitting down with your group and saying: “OK, what is our strategy here for July 1?”
Jet Greaves: You know what? We didn’t have a ton of conversations throughout the year, we just wanted to see how the year would play out. For me, it was just to be focused on playing and helping our hockey team, which is always the most important thing. I think it helps having agents that I know I respect and have been in the business for awhile.
For me, I keep my focus on playing. Yeah, we had those conversations early in the offseason, having that understanding about what we’re looking for, what’s our idea? They spoke with me and asked what would you prefer, what’s my best-case scenario. Just having those conversations of feeling it out on our side, on what we would like to do.
Obviously, there’s two sides to a negotiation, so you understand what both sides are wanting for, but for me, I love being in Columbus. I’ve had an amazing experience in my five years there, and for me, I wanted to commit to being a Blue Jacket. To be able to do a multi-year deal was something we were excited about, and we’re definitely pushing for.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…
