Blue Jackets look to Pheonix Copley as goalie depth remains a defining need

Columbus’s goaltending storyline has always carried extra weight, but the 2025-26 season created a rare reference point. According to The Hockey News, it was the first time since 2018-19 that only two goalies played in all games of a season, a clean run credited to Jet Greaves and Elvis Merzlikins staying available. The league has not often seen such full-season durability, and even that kind of “luck” tends to reshape how teams plan for the following year.

As the Blue Jackets turned the page from that unusual durability, The Hockey News reported that Columbus signed veteran Pheonix Copley to a one-year deal on July 1. The move is best understood as organizational insurance and a reminder that goalie certainty is rarely guaranteed, even when the previous season offers a blueprint for stability.

Copley’s path to the NHL is nontraditional, which is part of why his profile has remained interesting to observers. The Hockey News and Yahoo Sports both point to his origins in North Pole, Alaska, where he was not drafted. Instead, his professional resume grew through trades and development stops that helped build his reputation as a capable AHL and NHL backup, a role that requires both readiness and patience.

In assessing what Columbus might be buying, The Hockey News noted Copley’s career movement through the organizations that have employed him. He was traded to St. Louis by Washington as part of the draft-day package for T.J. Oshie in 2016, and later moved again when St. Louis traded him to Washington in 2017 in a larger deal that included multiple players and a first-round pick. While the details of those transactions matter more to team historians than fans, they do underline a recurring theme in Copley’s career: teams have repeatedly viewed him as a plug-in option when the goalie picture becomes unstable.

His AHL résumé includes at least one concrete marker of performance. The Hockey News cited the Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award for fewest goals against in the 2021 season, which he shared with Zach Fucale. That type of result is not identical to NHL success, but it does help explain why Copley can be a practical target when a club wants a veteran with a track record of handling workload and pressure in the minors.

There is also a development angle to consider, because Copley’s role may not be confined to Columbus’s NHL roster. The Hockey News framed the signing with an expectation that the Blue Jackets could lean on Copley as a stabilizing presence at the next level if needed, particularly as other goalie situations in the organization and its system evolve. That approach is consistent with how NHL depth is typically constructed during the offseason.

The key question now is how the “two-goalie, every-game” season translates into Columbus’s planning. Even if Greaves and Merzlikins are the reference point for what stayed healthy, the reality is that the most repeatable skill in goalie management is not luck, it is preparation. With Copley in the mix, Columbus appears focused on maintaining that preparation for the moments when a season can turn on a single netminder’s availability.