Blue Jackets send Greaves, Mateychuk and Olivier to world championship

Three Blue Jackets are spending May in Switzerland with more on the line than a medal. Jet Greaves, Denton Mateychuk and Mathieu Olivier entered the 2026 IIHF World Championship as an audition in full view, the kind of stage that can change how Columbus, Cleveland and even the rest of the league sees them.

Greaves and Mateychuk were selected for Canada, while Olivier joined Team USA for a tournament that runs through May 31 in Zurich and Fribourg. The compact setup matters too: the IIHF says the two host cities are separated by just under 90 minutes of travel, while the event itself is packed into 64 games involving 16 national teams. For players trying to win more trust before next season, every shift, save and special-teams rep can carry extra weight.

Greaves may have the sharpest individual stake. The 25-year-old made his first appointment to a Canadian national team after a season that turned him from organizational depth into a full-time NHL starter. He played 55 games for Columbus, started 53, and finished 26-19-9 with a 2.60 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage, adding two shutouts along the way. That made him the fifth goaltender in Blue Jackets history to win 25 games in a season. It also capped a rise that began after he went unsigned out of junior, took a minor-league deal with Cleveland and spent time in Kalamazoo before four seasons with the Monsters helped push him into the NHL.

Mateychuk’s path is different, but the pressure point is just as clear. The 21-year-old, taken 12th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, scored 13 goals in his first full NHL season, good for sixth all-time among Blue Jackets defensemen in a season. He had set a personal target years earlier to reach 10 goals early in his NHL career, and now he is carrying that momentum into a Canadian roster that includes Columbus native Misha Donskov behind the bench. Mateychuk already has World Juniors experience, and his 2024 playoff run with Moose Jaw, which ended with the Warriors’ first Western Hockey League title and a playoff MVP award, showed he can build on a big stage.

Olivier brings a different test for Columbus. In a tournament loaded with elite competition, his physical presence gives the United States another layer, and his usage in Switzerland will say plenty about how he is viewed heading into the next season. That makes the games in Zurich and Fribourg more than a springtime stopover. With Canada already beating Sweden 5-3 and Italy 6-0, and the United States defeating Great Britain 5-1, the scoreboard is already feeding a bigger question for Columbus: which of these three players can return having raised his stock most?