How much does Thomas Greiss, 36, have left to offer Blues? I still have some good hockey in me

After Detroit’s season ended in April, goalie Thomas Greiss had a meeting with general manager Steve Yzerman.

The rebuilding Red Wings had missed the playoffs for the sixth straight season and given up the second-most goals in the NHL (310). Though starter Alex Nedeljkovic had been in net for 178 of those, Greiss’ goals-against average (3.66) and save percentage (.891) were worse.

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The 36-year-old was also going to be an unrestricted free agent.

“I really respect Steve, I think he’s a good GM, and we had a good talk about the whole thing,” Greiss said. “He was very honest with me and told me he’s shopping around and seeing what he can get. So they went in a different direction.”

Indeed, Yzerman went a different direction in Detroit, and he did his shopping in St. Louis. On July 8, the Red Wings traded a third-round pick to the Blues for Ville Husso’s rights and signed him to a three-year, $14.25 million contract ($4.75 million AAV). The 27-year-old will replace Greiss and be part of a tandem with Nedeljkovic.

That created a vacancy in St. Louis behind starter Jordan Binnington, but for Greiss, Husso’s departure didn’t open his eyes to the Blues’ being an option when free agency began July 13.

“No, the last three or four years, there’s been so much movement with the goalie market,” he said. “It has been so crazy and tough to predict, so you can’t really think too much. I think there’s less goalies available, and there’s more pressure on teams to make a move because of the salary cap. The goalies get signed right away in free agency, and everything happens so quickly.”

The Blues tried to sign Charlie Lindgren as their backup, but he opted for a three-year, $3.3 million contract with Washington. At that point, they turned to Greiss, who agreed to a one-year, $1.25 million deal, which could have an added $250,000 in potential bonuses.

A couple of other clubs expressed interest, and there was “a chance,” Greiss said, that he might have retired if the right situation didn’t come along. But after 13 seasons in the league, he didn’t want to call it a career and was hoping to hear from a contending team.

“It was definitely, ‘What’s out there? What’s available?'” Greiss said. “St. Louis, being a very good team and a good city for the family too, it was an easy choice. There were other options, and St. Louis was my No. 1 pick.

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“I think I still have some good hockey in me. Obviously last year wasn’t my best year, but looking back, I’ve been a pretty good goalie overall in the NHL in my career. I just want to have a good year. I still enjoy playing hockey, and that’s the most important part.”

The German-born Greiss, who is 6-foot-2 and 232 pounds, was selected by San Jose in the third round of the 2004 draft. He has played 347 career games, including 305 starts, with a record of 155-120-37, a 2.72 GAA and a .912 save percentage. His best year statistically was with Arizona in 2013-14, but he produced the most with the New York Islanders from 2015 to ’20.

In each of his five seasons in New York, Greiss was teammates with current Blues defenseman Nick Leddy, and the two played together again in Detroit last year.

“He kept us in most of the seasons,” Leddy said of Greiss’ time with the Islanders. “He made timely saves when we needed them. I think he’s a guy who’s very relaxed back there, but very focused. There were a few circumstances where I’d mess up — I’d be like, ‘Hey, sorry, buddy,’ and he’d be like, ‘No worries. That’s why I’m here.’ He’s got that light-hearted humor, which in an intense atmosphere you can roll off.”

Greiss had compliments to return to Leddy: “He’s a good guy,” he said. “I always enjoyed being around him, he’s a really good teammate. He’s probably one of the best skaters in the whole league, and it’s always great to have him out there chasing guys down.”

Like with Leddy, the landscape in Detroit was difficult for Greiss because the Red Wings have been a young team with not a lot of depth defensively. Leddy’s plus-minus rating with the Wings was minus-33 in 55 games before joining the Blues, where he was a plus-3 in 20 games.

“They’re not a playoff team, so it’s a different situation,” Greiss said. “But I’m also old enough and know what’s going on. We’re all professionals and got to handle it.”

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That’s not to take him off the hook. In his final 10 games of the regular season, he went 2-8 with a 4.49 GGA and .874 save percentage.

“Looking at the Islanders teams, we always had older teams,” Leddy said. “I think with a rebuilding team, you have inexperience, and it might’ve just been inexperience. In this league, if you give up too many chances, good teams are going to capitalize on them.”

And when that happens, the goalie becomes an easy target. “It’s definitely a league where a lot of people say, ‘What have you done for me lately?'” Greiss said. “So many players have a down year, or it doesn’t go well for them. It can be so many factors and they rebound.”

But that may be a lot to ask from a goalie who will be the seventh-oldest in the league in 2022-23.

“I’ll tell you this: ‘Greisser’ is a guy who takes incredibly good care of himself, and his body is much younger than his birth certificate,” said Adam Francilia, who trains Greiss in the offseason. “In fact, I would say he’s probably been the healthiest and most physiological functional that I’ve seen him in the last eight years. I don’t think he’s had any injuries in the last three years.”

Greiss had a concussion last year in Detroit that kept him out about a week but nothing long-term or involving tears or breaks.

“I feel good,” he said, laughing. “I’m obviously not the youngest anymore, but there’s no real aches and pains, and I can still move.”

Greiss arrived in St. Louis in late July and has found the city as Leddy described: “He said, ‘Good food, easy to get around’ … I’m enjoying it.”

Greiss didn’t come in knowing any of the other Blues. He’s friends with both David Perron and Oskar Sundqvist, but of course they’re both in Detroit. With those two and former Blue Robby Fabbri now with the Red Wings, it’s hard not to notice the pipeline between the two teams.

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“Yeah, it’s funny how it’s worked out,” Greiss said.

He’s met a few of his new Blues teammates, skating with Vladimir Tarasenko and Colton Parayko for the past month.

“I have memories of Tarasenko scoring against me — nothing in particular, just him on the power play on the side, rifling missiles there,” Greiss said. “Parayko has a good shot, too. He’s a big, strong guy. There’s not too many guys yet, but they’ve been very welcoming. It’s been a good experience so far.”

He likes the defense that will be playing in front of him, including Torey Krug and Justin Faulk, whom Greiss faced in the Eastern Conference when Krug was with Boston and Faulk with Carolina.

“It’s very solid,” Greiss said. “Krug is a good skater: heady, sees the ice well. He can hit a guy, too, if he wants to. Faulk is really good. He was always a guy I had to look out for. He could always jump in the play and make something happen.”

And about the goalie Greiss will be backing up, he’s only watched Binnington’s career from afar. They’ve never met personally, only trading texts once Greiss signed with the Blues.

“He’s always been a very talented goalie,” Greiss said. “He had an unreal run there in the playoffs. All the accolades he got, he deserves. We want to have success as a team, and he’s going to be a huge part of that.”

At this point in his career, Greiss probably won’t be able to offer Binnington the same challenge that Husso did. The veteran should benefit from having more defensive structure than he’s had the past couple of seasons in Detroit, though. But as the chart below illustrates, while his workload with the Red Wings wasn’t easy, his expected save numbers have been trending downward the past few years. (The blue represents better-than-expected save totals, while the red represents a below-average number.)

So how many games can Greiss give the Blues? His career-high was 51 with New York in 2015-16, but those days are done. He played in 31 in his last season with the Islanders and then 34 and 31, respectively, in his two seasons with Detroit.

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As long as Binnington is performing, a lesser load for Greiss may be necessary.

“No idea about games; we’ll see what happens,” he said. “But I feel good about my game. I have confidence in myself, and I’ll push him as much as I can. Hopefully it can help, and I’ll give him some rest here and there.”

Francilia, for one, thinks the situation in St. Louis looks a lot like what Greiss had on Long Island and that could bode well.

“You’ve got a great head coach (Craig Berube), and it was very similar on Long Island when (Barry Trotz) was there,” Francilia said. “There’s similarity with the environment — the culture, the team, where things are at, the expectation level. He wants to win and that stuff for a veteran guy, who has a lot of pride in his game and didn’t want to go out with a bad taste in his mouth, I expect to see more of an Islanders version of Greisser than a Red Wings version of Greisser.”

(Top photo: Marc DesRosiers / USA Today)

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