Detroit Red Wings: 4 pending UFA’s to consider re-signing this offseason
By Bob Heyrman
The Detroit Red Wings should bring back Jonathan Bernier in 2021.
When you look at how well the Detroit Red Wings netminders performed during the 2021 season, you will likely be surprised. As a unit, the Red Wings’ goaltenders provided the club with an overall save percentage of .906%; the league average settled at .903%.
Things get better when you look at the teams’ five-on-five stats. The trio of Red Wings goaltenders produced a save percentage of .926%, four points ahead of the .922% league average. If you were to tell me that the Red Wings goaltenders performed at an above-average clip, I’m not sure I would have believed you.
If you spent any time watching Red Wings games over the past couple of seasons, it’s virtually impossible to blame Detroit’s netminders for the franchise’s lackluster performances, but I would still have expected the group to perform a bit below the league average.
Thomas Greiss is under contract for one more season at $3.6 million. Jonathan Bernier is a pending free agent finishing a three-year deal that averaged $3-million per season.
Bernier had been the teams’ best goaltender over the past few seasons despite having much help from his teammates. Yzerman needs to consider signing the 32-year Bernier to another contract. I would be comfortable giving Bernier a two-year deal to buy the organization time to find a long-term solution at the position.
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Bernier is coming off of a 9-11-1 season while maintaining an impressive 2.99 goals-against average to go with his .914% save percentage in 2021.