Decision has been reached between Jet Greaves and the Blue Jackets

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported the settlement, reached before Greaves and the Blue Jackets ever stepped into a Thursday arbitration hearing in Toronto.

The headline number, a $5 million average, splits the difference between the club's $2.8 million filing and the goaltender's $7.5 million ask almost exactly down the middle.

That reads as a fair raise for an undrafted goalie who forced his way into Columbus's crease.

It also hides the more interesting choice underneath it.

Greaves' camp filed using Dustin Wolf as its comparable, and the number they wanted, $7.5 million, was pointed. Wolf's actual deal was seven years and $52.5 million.

Calgary bet the better part of a decade on one strong season.

Columbus, handed the same underdog profile and the same one-year sample, bet three years.

That gap is the story.

A three-year term does not buy a single one of Greaves' unrestricted free agent years or brand him a franchise cornerstone.

It buys Don Waddell time.

Columbus gets a starter at a manageable price while keeping the real, expensive decision on ice until Greaves proves the breakout was not a one-off.

Anaheim did it with Lukas Dostal, Calgary did it with Wolf, and now a cheaper counter-model is forming.

Teams with a breakout goalie and thin evidence are learning to bridge rather than commit, paying the raise while dodging the eight-year gamble that has sunk goalie contracts before.

Greaves got his money. Columbus kept its exit.

The next time a young goalie posts one great year, this is the deal his agent will be fighting not to sign.

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