from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,
Bernier is coming off a three-year, $9 million contract. Thomas Greiss, who rebounded from a poor start to post a .912 save percentage and 2.70 GAA in 34 games, was signed last October for two years, $7.2 million.
There are multiple goaltenders who could hit the open market this offseason, but high-profile ones such as Tuukka Rask (Boston Bruins) and Pekka Rinne (Nashville Predators) are either likely to re-sign with their previous teams or make more sense for a team in win-now mode.
If Yzerman wants to bring in somebody younger, Chris Driedger could be an interesting choice. He’s 27, and coming off a two-year, $1.7 million contract. The 6-foot-4 Driedger spent the past two seasons with the Florida Panthers, backing up Sergei Bobrovsky. Driedger went 14-6-3 in in 23 starts with a .927 save percentage and 2.07 GAA in 23 starts this season. He played three games in the playoffs, posting a .871 save percentage and 3.70 GAA, after Bobrovsky failed to impress in Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Re-signing Bernier would seem to be the safest route, perhaps on a short-term deal in the $3 million range. Bernier has developed the mental toughness to play on a team in a rebuild, able to block out losing games in a way he wasn’t able to when he was with the rebuilding Toronto Maple Leafs from 2013-16. He was traded during the summer that the Leafs — the NHL's worst team in 2015-16 — won the draft lottery and were able to add Auston Matthews, transforming the franchise.
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