Greaves Opens Camp as the Starter, With No One Behind Him

The Merzlikins surgery on August 20 left no return timeline, and that situation hasn't changed. What has changed is that training camp is now here, which means Jet Greaves isn't just the theoretical answer to the goaltending question — he's the answer, full stop, with Michael Hutchinson retired and the depth chart behind him essentially empty.

The $15 million, three-year contract Columbus gave Greaves in July was always meant to signal commitment to him as a starter. It just wasn't supposed to signal it this abruptly, before he'd played a single game under the deal. That's where things stand.

The forward situation adds to it. Nichushkin was acquired in June specifically to give Columbus a top-six presence it lacked during last season's collapse, when the team scored 2.1 goals per game over its final 10 games and went 2-8. He's day-to-day as camp opens. Voronkov, who put up 17 goals last season, is also day-to-day. The Blue Jackets are asking Greaves to hold things together in net while two of the players most responsible for generating offense in front of him are unavailable.

None of this is necessarily fatal — day-to-day injuries resolve, and Merzlikins could return at some point mid-season. But the margin for error in Columbus was already thin before any of this happened. The next few weeks will tell us whether this is a rough camp start or something that follows the team into October.