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New York Islanders Offseason Plan If John Tavares Stays

By Matt O'Leary
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 22: John Tavares #91 of the New York Islanders congratulates Anders Lee #27 on his second period goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Barclays Center on March 22, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 22: John Tavares #91 of the New York Islanders congratulates Anders Lee #27 on his second period goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Barclays Center on March 22, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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NEWARK, NJ – MARCH 31: Thomas Greiss #1 of the New York Islanders reacts after Taylor Hall #9 of the New Jersey Devils scores in the second period on March 31, 2018 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Buyout Thomas Greiss

If you’re going to land a starting goalie making $6.1 million against the cap you can’t have a goalie that makes $3.3 million back him up. You’re going to need cap flexibility and buying out Thomas Greiss does just that.

According to CapFriendly, the buyout for Greiss really isn’t that bad. In 2018-2019 it would cost the Islanders $1.25 million against the cap followed by $750,000 the following year. In 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 it’ll be a $1.17 million cap hit, which is doable, by that point the cap can be upwards of $85 million.

It’s not like the Islanders would be losing a ton by waiving Greiss. You could make a real case that he was the worst NHL goalie in the league last year.

He had a .892 save percentage, the lowest of his career, excluding the three games he played in 2007-2008. His goals-against average wasn’t much better coming in at 3.82 that was by far the highest of his career.

With Greiss gone in this scenario, Linus Soderstrom can be the backup, and at just $803,333 for the next two-years, a goalie combination that includes Braden Holtby that costs less than $7 million is appealing. Remember, the disaster that was Thomas Greiss and Jaroslav Halak cost $7.83 million against the cap.

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