NY Islanders: The best players to wear No. 1

Thomas Greiss

A more recent player, Greiss played with the Islanders from 2016 to 2020, wearing the number one. Wearing the number for much of his career, Greiss is the last Islanders player to wear number one.

Greiss came to Long Island as an unrestricted free agent. It was an under-the-radar signing, as Greiss would be the backup goaltender. Little did he or the fans know that Griess would be the first goalie to take the Islanders past the first round of the NHL playoffs since Glenn Healy in 1993.

Immediately being a fan favorite, Greiss was able to split a lot of the time with the likes of Jaroslav Halak, Semyon Varlamov, and Robin Lehner. In addition to winning a playoff series for the Islanders, Greiss won a crucial game seven against the Philadelphia Flyers to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1993. He was never better during the 2016 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal versus the Florida Panthers when the Isles advanced in the playoffs for the first time in 23 years.

Overall, Greiss played in 193 games as an Islanders goaltender, winning 101 of those games. He finished with a 2.70 GAA and .915 Save Percentage. In the 2018-19 season, Greiss and Lehner were awarded the William M. Jennings Trophy, given to the goaltender(s) with the fewest goals scored against.

The arrival of Ilya Sorokin forced the departure of Greiss, but many will remember that Greiss took Sorokin under his wing during the Covid playoff bubble. A gesture not forgotten as Greiss knew that Sorokin would be replacing him the following season.

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