Blue Jackets hoping to bring top goaltending prospect from KHL to North America

The Columbus Blue Jackets look to have found their goaltender of the future in Jet Greaves, although the 25-year-old is set to become a restricted free agent this summer.

The club does have a top goaltending prospect in KHL standout Sergei Ivanov, who currently plays for St. Petersburg. But with his contract expiring at the end of May, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline believes the franchise will try to bring him to North America ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.

“The Blue Jackets are hoping to sign goaltender Sergei Ivanov when his contract in Russia with the KHL’s St. Petersburg expires on May 31,” Portzline wrote on Monday. “Ivanov, 22, was a fifth-round draft pick (No. 138) in the 2022 draft and has been one of the top young goaltenders in Russia for the past three seasons, even though he’s played for some not-so-great teams.

“He has a 34-50-8 career mark in the KHL despite a .923 save percentage and 2.65 goals-against average. The plan, as of today, is for Ivanov to play for AHL Cleveland next season.”

It’s almost certain that Greaves will get a new contract, and Elvis Merzlikins still has one year left on his deal that will pay him $5.4 million in 2026-27. But he struggled this season, and it makes sense for the young guys in the system to get a chance, whether or not that comes to fruition next year or not.

“It could be a crowded crease in Cleveland next season, with Ivanov set to make his North American debut, prospect Evan Gardner set to play his first full pro season, and [AHL starter] Zach Sawchenko stating his case to return to the organization with a new contract,” continued Portzline. “He’s an unrestricted free agent this summer.”

Goaltending isn’t an overarching concern for the organization, although both Greaves and Merzlikins left something to be desired at times in 2025-26. The Blue Jackets were oh-so-close to advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs this spring, but lost nine of their last 11 games.

It’ll be interesting to see if Ivanov does indeed make the trip across the pond this summer, and how he fares between the pipes in North America.

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