from Craig Custance of The Athletic,
Welcome to the 2021 Goalie Tiers.
If you’re unfamiliar, every year we ask a group of NHL general managers and coaches to rate every single starting goalie on a scale of 1 to 5, with one being best and five being worst. Then the ratings are averaged and the goalies sorted into tiers. We grant anonymity to encourage honesty and participation.
This year, the panel was made up of six general managers, four head coaches and five goalie coaches.
27 (tie). Thomas Greiss, Red Wings
Greiss is going from a very structured, strong defensive team in the Islanders to, well, one that is not. This spot very could be Jonathan Bernier, who was actually pretty good last season in a tough situation. The Red Wings seemed to realize that Bernier does well with a heavy workload, and it’s possible he plays more than Greiss, who has had success as a spot starter. But Greiss got the offseason contract after a solid five seasons with the Islanders. The question is: Can he do that in Detroit?
“I like Greiss a lot. I think he’s underrated. We’ll see how he does now,” said one panelist.
Added a head coach: “Greiss is better than a lot of the goalies on this list.”
This seemed to be a fair summation of the goalie situation in Detroit: “(Greiss is) a good quality backup goalie. I don’t think he’s a No. 1 guy. I don’t see him doing any better than Jonathan Bernier. They’re comparable goalies.”
more ($$$) goalies
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