New York Islanders Expectations For Thomas Greiss

After being considered the backup for a majority of the season Thomas Greiss stepped up tremendously for the New York Islanders. Here’s what you can expect from him in 2016.

When Jaroslav Halak went down I was a bit concerned if Thomas Greiss would be able to handle the work load as the starter. He had fantastic numbers up until that point in the season. His career year continued, proving me wrong.

He played a career high 41 games with a .925 sv% and a 2.36 GAA. The sv% was a career high for Greisser. Without question it was Greiss’ best year in the league.

His play carried over into the playoffs and it was part of the reason why the Islanders escaped the first round of the playoffs, finally.

Greiss started all 11 playoff games for the Isles. He posted a .923 SV% and a 2.46 GAA which were both similar numbers to his great regular season.

John Tavares is the obvious answer for the Islanders playoff MVP, but Greiss is right behind him and no one else is close.

His play in the Panthers series was exceptional. His counterpart Roberto Luongo had a great series, but not as good as Greiss.

His play allowed the Islanders to win three overtime games in the series. His personal best and my favorite save of the year was the penalty shot in overtime. Talk about a gutsy save in a big time moment.

The Prediction

With a healthy Jaroslav Halak, Greiss assumes his role as the “backup” although he is really more of a 1b than a number 2 goalie.

32 games 20-10-2 .912 2.49 GAA

That’s right the Islanders will have two goalies with 20 plus wins. Jack Capuano will be able to rest both guys and/or play whoever is playing best at the time. I have Halak’s numbers slightly better than Greiss’ so he see’s more action.

Although comparatively 32 games is a lot of games for a backup.

His numbers take a slight step back from 2015-2016. It’s unfair to expect Greiss to repeat the year he had last year, and these numbers are better than just your average backup goaltender.

The Greiss/Halak combo is a good one. The Isles should ride it out because if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.