I feel Greiss may test the waters as he wants to be a starter; I just don’t feel there is a team that would sign him as a starter. I can’t think of too many teams that need a starter, let alone one who has never proven himself to be a starter. I can think of maybe 4 or 5 teams that will need a starter.
There are some big names who will most likely make it to free agency, including Jonas Hiller and Ryan Miller. You can see the full list here. And on that list are a lot more proven starters than Greiss or teams that need starters.
Greiss is not in the same category as Hiller or Miller. He is servicable but not great. He is a vast improvement over the previous backup of Jason LaBarbera (also UFA). I would take Greiss as our backup. I think he proved himself as a teammate and great backup this past season. Smith was out with injuries and Greiss stepped up.
He may try to seek a place where he can play more and be part of a tandem. I couldn’t tell you how many teams that would be but I would guess there isn’t too many of those either.
It does seem like the Coyotes would like him back as Maloney has reached out to him already. The ball is in Greiss’ court now. My feelings is that he will dip his toe in the water, see what is out there but will sign here. Or maybe that is just my hope. 😉
As a reminder, here are Greiss’ stats from last season:
- 25 games played: 10W, 8L (5 OT & 2 SO)
- Goals Against: 50
- Shots Against: 626
- Saves: 576
- Save %: .920
- Goals Against Average: 2.29
His best stat is the GAA, placing him 10th in the league. The worst? GA, placing him in 59th.
Stats aren’t everything. There are so many other variables that come into play but I just wanted to present them for a bigger picture.
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