D+
One of the bigger signings of the offseason for the Wings was goaltender Thomas Greiss. Greiss was coming off of a solid season with the New York Rangers, with a save percentage of .913 in 31 games played.
However, 17 games into his first season in Detroit, and the German goaltender’s percentage has dropped to .883.
It would be unreasonable to blame the slumping stats completely on Greiss. He has barely had support in most of his starts, and it’s almost a running joke that the rest of the team always seems to score less when he’s in net.
However, Greiss was signed to be this teams starting goaltender, and this far into the season, Jonathan Bernier seems to have that role pretty secure with his .910 save percentage. Making over $3 million dollars a year ($7.6 million, two years) puts the expectations a bit higher for Greiss, and so far, he has yet to live up to them.
Final Thoughts on the Yzerman’s Moves
Halfway through the season, Yzerman’s offseason moves have held up well. It’s possible Greiss turns the season around, or Namestnikov starts finishing on plays and lights up the scoring.
I also didn’t include Mantha’s re-signing because it’s still too early in terms of the four-year deal to really assign a grade.
It’s safe to say we have a solid understanding of what these moves have done. While not blowing anyone away, the changes made did what they were intended to do: speed up the rebuild by acquiring draft capital and keeping vets around to guide the rookies.
Look out for the trade deadline on April 12th. That’s when we’ll see just what kind of capital some of the free agent signings will net the Red Wings.