The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed goalie Thomas Greiss to a one-year, $1 million contract.
Greiss is not a big-name goaltender, but he’s put up impressive numbers in limited appearances as an NHL back-up. The 28-year-old has a career save percentage of .915 in 69 appearances with San Jose and Phoenix, and he went 10-8-5 with a .920 save percentage last year with the Coyotes.
Which, of course, brings us to Marc-Andre Fleury, the much-maligned 29-year-old who has one year remaining on his own contract before he can become an unrestricted free agent.
Barring a trade, Fleury will likely go into the season as Pittsburgh’s No. 1; however, it’s worth noting that he’s lost his starter’s job before, to Tomas Vokoun in the 2013 postseason. Not to mention, the Penguins have a new coach in Mike Johnston, and there is a significant level of ownership dissatisfaction with how the team has performed in the playoffs since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009.
At the very least, if it’s a duo of Fleury and Greiss, the latter should push the former.
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Greiss said opportunity to play late in the season when Smith went down helped him show what he could do. Overall, enjoyed his time in AZ.
— Sarah McLellan (@sarah__mclellan) July 1, 2014
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