Thomas Greiss announces NHL retirement after 14-season career

Veteran NHL goaltender Thomas Greiss has hung up the pads after 14 seasons.

The 37-year-old entered the summer unsigned after the St. Louis Blues elected to not give him another contract. Greiss had a 7-10-0 run with the Blues in 2022-23, recording a .896 save percentage – a slight improvement from the .891 set a year before in Detroit.

Selected with the 94th pick in the 2004 NHL Draft by San Jose, Greiss had a solid career in Germany before eventually moving to North America. He played his first two years in North America with the AHL’s Worcester Sharks, where he put up solid enough numbers, highlighted by his 34-win season n 2008-09. He never cracked the 20-game barrier with the Sharks, but would go on to get more regular backup duty in Phoenix (2013-14) and Pittsburgh (2014-15).

It was in 2015-16, when Greiss signed with the New York Islanders, that his career really started to take off. He started his run with 23 and 26-win seasons as the Islanders’ No. 1 goaltender. Greiss was even the team’s starter during the 2016 playoffs, where he posted a .923 save percentage through 11 games. After 2019-20, Greiss would return to permanent backup status, a role he’d hold until his retirement.

Greis also had significant experience internationally. He represented Germany at all junior levels before making his Olympic debut in 2006. He’d take over No. 1 goaltender duties in 2010 before again representing the team at the 2016 and 2017 World Championships. Greiss was also Jaroslav Halak’s backup with Team Europe at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. In 2021, the German Ice Hockey Federation announced Greiss was banned from representing the national team due to controversial social media posts.

Greiss ends his NHL career with a 162-130-37 record with 16 shutouts and a career save percentage of .911. The Blues are expected to go with a goaltending duo of Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer for 2023-24, with Malcolm Subban, Colten Ellis, Vadim Zherenko and Will Cranley also signed to deals.