Islanders: Re-sign or decline Thomas Greiss

The New York Islanders have some unrestricted free agents (UFAs) that they need to make decisions on this offseason. One of them is goalie Thomas Greiss.

At 34 years old and coming off a three-year extension, New York Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss is set to hit free agency this offseason.

Since signing with the Islanders in 2015-16 at the age of 30, Greiss has spent the last five seasons with the team playing in a back up/platoon role with the likes of Jaroslav Halak, Robin Lehner, and now Semyon Varlamov.

His tenure with the New York Islanders has been quite good. In five seasons, Greiss has played in 193 games – starting 179 – and posted a .915 save percentage (SV%), 2.70 goals-against average (GAA), 10 shutouts, and .564 quality start percentage (QS%).

Greiss has been very good in goal for the Islanders over his five seasons with the team, except for the horrid season that was 2017-18. Being reliable and dependable, Greiss was worth every penny the Islanders spent on him.

The Decision

This past season, Greiss was exceptional for the Islanders. He played in 31 games – starting 28 – and recorded a .913 SV%, 2.74 GAA, and .536 QS%. Surprisingly, he didn’t record any shutouts, but if the season wasn’t cut short I’m sure he would’ve had at least one.

Although Greiss has been great for the Islanders, they’re going to have to let him walk. The team simply doesn’t have a roster spot available for him next season.

With Varlamov under contract for the next three years and KHL superstar Ilya Sorokin seemingly set on coming over from the KHL and finally joining the New York Islanders next season, there just isn’t room and/or cap space to re-sign Greiss.

I wish Greiss could continue to play for the Islanders but unless Sorokin changes his mind, there’s probably no way it happens. So, I’ll wish Greiss good luck with his future team as he’s most likely going to be signed this offseason by another team to serve in the same role as he did with the Islanders.

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Hopefully, the rest of his career is as successful and great as his time with the Islanders.

Decision: Decline.