New York Islanders: Alarming Thomas Greiss Statistics

New York Islanders netminder Thomas Greiss has been bad this year, but these numbers might lead you to believe that he’s been the worst goalie in the entire league.

It’s been an overall disappointing season for New York Islanders goalies. Sure, Jaroslav Halak has played better of late but taking the entire season into consideration it’s been a failure, especially for Thomas Greiss.

Thomas Greiss just got himself a three-year extension last year. In year one of his deal, he hasn’t been anything close to what the Islanders were hoping for.

We’ll start out with the simple numbers and then go a little more in-depth just to show how bad it’s really been. in 23 games played Greiss is 10-7-2 with a .885 save percentage and a 4.03 goals against average. Woof.

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Putting it in Perspective

To give you some context on those numbers that 4.03 goals against average is the worst amongst goalies who have played in 20 or more games this year. We’re using 20 as the benchmark because anything smaller doesn’t give you much of a sample size.

The next closest is former friend Chad Johnson. His goals-against average is 3.57 which is a near half a goal difference. That’s how far Greiss has separated himself from the pack.

Now, let’s talk about save percentage. His .885 save percentage is the worst save percentage for netminders who have played in 20 or more games this year. Again, the next closest is Chad Johnson who has a .886 save percentage.

A stat I look to look at for analyzing goalies is quality start percentage. Thomas Greiss has the second lowest quality start percentage (.333), following along with our same requirement of 20 or more games, only Keith Kinkaid (.278) is worse than Greiss in this category.

Next, we’ll take into consideration GSAA. This takes a look at the number of goals the goalie has saved given his save percentage and shots faced vs the league average save percentage on the same number of shots.

In the entire league, even counting goalies with less than 20 appearances, Thomas Greiss has the worst GSAA in the league. It’s -20.71. The next closest is Scott Darling’s who has a -16.24 GSAA.

Finally, we take a look at some more advanced statistics thanks to Corsica. His save percentage vs high danger shots. He stops 66.67 percent of high danger shots which is the lowest among goalies with 20 or more appearances and second lowest overall.

You can reasonably make the case that Greiss is the worst goalie in the NHL right now. What do the Islanders do now? He’s got two more years on his deal. You can either trade him for virtually nothing, waive him or keep riding him out there.

Next: Garth's Future With the Islanders

The Islanders don’t really have a legit option in the AHL yet they also can’t keep riding out the worst goalie in the league on the night’s Halak can’t go or doesn’t have it. Yes, Halak has played better but the goalie problem is nowhere near fixed.