It’s a rite of autumn for NHL teams as season begins.
A young prospect makes the squad for the first time out of training camp, and the milestones follow. There’s the rookie lap, the first goal – memorable celebrations that can bring energy to a team in the early going. Already this season, two members of the 2025 NHL draft class have scored their first career goals, and 16 rookies from across the league have lit the lamp.
In recent years, that was often the scene in Columbus, as the Blue Jackets turned to young players quite a bit over the past few seasons. The Jackets iced five players with less than 100 NHL games played on opening night in 2022, and that season alone saw 11 players make their NHL debuts with the franchise.
But look around the CBJ locker room these days and there are more actual kids – children of a bevy of veteran players – than rookies in the hockey sense. The 19 players to see the ice in game one of the 2022-23 season averaged 314.7 NHL games, a list that included Jake Voracek, who boosted the average with more than 1,000 games under his belt and then played just 11 more before suffering a season-ending injury.
This year, the average service time of the Jackets’ opening roster? A much higher number, at 435.4 NHL games played, and none have rookie status at the NHL level. Just a pair of those 19 players have played less than 100 NHL games, and those two – defenseman Denton Mateychuk and goalie Jet Greaves – were the only members of the CBJ this season to make an opening NHL roster for the first time.
It’s a big step in the right direction for the Blue Jackets, who have watched several young players graduate from talented but raw prospects to crucial members of the team’s nucleus. Columbus has also surrounded those up-and-comers with veterans who know what it takes to lead the Blue Jackets to wins in the National Hockey League, and the results are showing up in the standings.
But it’s still good to have some youthful energy around, and the Blue Jackets have some of that with Mateychuk and Greaves. While neither has played a ton of games at the highest level, they’ve shown they’re beyond their years in maturity and will be counted on to be big pieces of the team this year.
And for both, the experience of starting a season in the NHL for the first time feels something like a childhood goal come true.
“Everybody growing up playing hockey dreams about playing in the NHL, so it’s something super special and something I’m grateful for and try to enjoy every day,” Greaves said. “I think it’s not something to take for granted at all. It’s what you dreamed about, so we’re all very blessed to be able to play this sport and play in this league.”
And an interesting part of their paths to the NHL is that each took a different route to making it to the Blue Jackets.
Mateychuk has seemed destined for the top echelons of the sport for years, being chosen 12th overall in the 2022 draft, playing in the prestigious Memorial Cup junior tournament and living every Canadian kid’s dream by suiting up for his home country at the IIHF World Junior Championship.
After turning pro, he played in just 27 games at the AHL level and was leading the league’s defensemen in scoring when he was summoned midway through last season by the Blue Jackets. Still just 21, he figures to be an NHL player for a long time, though he acknowledged it did feel a little bit different to be on the ice when the Blue Jackets began the season in Nashville.
“You get excited,” Mateychuk said. “You know you’re starting the year with the team, so that part of it is very special. It’s good to reflect on (where you’ve come from) and see it from that side of things. It shows that hard work can pay off and if you dedicate your time to something that you love and is your passion, you’re going to have success.”
Greaves journey, on the other hand, had more twists and turns than a Formula 1 race. He had the talent to make it to the Ontario Hockey League at age 17 but was never drafted, and his pro prospects took an even bigger hit when the OHL season was canceled in 2020-21 because of the COVID pandemic.
He caught enough eyes, though, that when the Blue Jackets needed a goalie for therir Traverse City prospects team that fall, Greaves earned an invitation. He played well enough to earn an AHL deal with Cleveland and eventually an NHL contract, but it was no quick journey to the Blue Jackets; Greaves spent the majority of the past four years with the Monsters, playing 158 games in the AHL and setting a Cleveland record with 82 wins.
His play in spot duty the past three seasons has led him to a full-time opportunity in the NHL, and Greaves has started both the season opener and home opener for the Blue Jackets this year.
While he’s appreciative of the journey he’s taken to get to this point, one that was never guaranteed, Greaves said that the famous day-to-day approach that has helped him get to the NHL also keeps him from getting overwhelmed by the big picture.
“I think it’s important,” he said. “I think there are so many new situations and new experiences, I don’t think you really know how it’s going to go, but it’s important to have the humility to be grounded day-to-day and take things one day at a time and keep learning from there. I think that’s a super important process. It’s something I feel like I've been fortunate to learn over the past years since I’ve been playing hockey and just growing up. It’s really important to rely on.”
As noted earlier, Mateychuk and Greaves have walked into a good situation, one where there are plenty of experienced voices to help show them the way and have their back should the need arise.
“I’m just very grateful to be in this position and have an opportunity to help the Blue Jackets win hockey games,” Greaves said. “I’m excited about that. We have a lot of experience in this room, so I think it’s awesome for Dents and I to be able to lean on the guys and learn from the guys who have been through it so many times. I’m excited about that opportunity.”
