Greiss retires from NHL after 14 seasons

Thomas Greiss announced his retirement from the NHL on Wednesday after 14 seasons.

The 37-year-old goalie, who was an unrestricted free agent, told NHL.com/de senior independent correspondent Stefan Herget that his playing career is over.

Greiss was 7-10-0 with a 3.64 goals-against average, .896 save percentage and one shutout in 21 games (16 starts) for the St. Louis Blues last season.

"There have been some considerations (about playing), but the bottom line is, I looked at a few offers that didn't really appeal to me," Greiss said. "As a result, I was ready to make the move and am looking forward to doing some new things in my life. Our job comes with a lot of freedom, but now I can tackle some new challenges."

Selected by the San Jose Sharks in the third round (No. 94) of the 2004 NHL Draft, Greiss was 162-130-37 with a 2.77 GAA, .911 save percentage and 16 shutouts in 368 regular-season games (323 starts) for the Blues, Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Phoenix Coyotes and Sharks, and 7-8 with a 2.43 GAA, .922 save percentage and one shutout in 17 Stanley Cup Playoff games (14 starts).

His best seasons were with the Islanders, when he went 101-60-17 with a 2.70 GAA, .915 save percentage and 10 shutouts in the regular season and 7-8 with a 2.41 GAA, .921 save percentage and one shutout in the playoffs from 2015-2020. Greiss took over as starter when Jaroslav Halak sustained a lower-body injury March 8, 2016, and helped the Islanders win a playoff round for the first time since 1993 with a six-game victory against the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference First Round. Greiss allowed four goals over the final three games while making 47 saves in Game 5 and 41 in the decisive Game 6.

"Athletically, it worked out best for me with the Islanders," Greiss said. "But every place I've been has had great things for me. Phoenix was nice to live in or my first NHL game with the San Jose Sharks was special. California is a nice place to stay and there's a lot to do. I took some nice trips there, for example I went up to Lake Tahoe quite often. In Detroit I met up again with some guys I had played with before in San Jose. Every stop had something good."

In 2018-19, he and Islanders teammate Robin Lehner won the Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest regular-season goals. That season, Greiss was 23-14-2 with a 2.28 GAA, .927 save percentage and five shutouts in 43 games (39 starts).

"The year with the Islanders when we won in the first playoff round and of course winning the Jennings Trophy were special years," he said. "It was a nice place for me to play in. A good environment and I liked living there. That was certainly one of the highlights for me."

Greiss, the first Germany-born goalie to play at least 100 NHL games, leads his countrymen in games played and is second behind Philipp Grubauer of the Seattle Kraken in GAA, save percentage and shutouts.

He represented Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey 2016, and Germany in the 2006 Turin Olympics and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

"When you ask athletes about the Olympics, that's one of the biggest things I've done, and I got to be there twice," Greiss said. "That's something special. And the 2016 World Cup of Hockey was a great event that the NHL and the NHLPA did a good job of organizing and putting on. It wasn't just because of our second-place finish that I was glad to be there."

Greiss said he plans to stay involved in hockey in some compacity.

"I'm already going to stay connected to hockey and possibly do something with one team or another," he said. "But right now, I want to get some distance and let the rest come to me."