Ville Husso
Ville Husso is a name we might see sooner rather than later. Much of where he ends up will depend on what happens in the expansion draft.
As well as he has played, Carter Hutton was given the contract he was so the Blues could expose him. If he gets picked up by the Las Vegas Golden Knights, I would not be shocked to see Husso make the jump right away to be Jake Allen‘s backup.
There are other options for the team. They could bring Jordan Binnington up in that case. Binnington is likely to only ever be a backup if he makes his way to the NHL one day.
It might even be smarter to go that route so Husso could get the bulk of work down in the AHL. However, Husso has improved with almost every level he has gone to.
The exception to that would be his brief time in the ECHL. Despite a working agreement with the Missouri Mavericks, Husso only saw 13 games in the Eastern League.
In that time, he had an underwhelming 3.23 goals against and a .910 save percentage. The Blues were very displeased with his lack of playing time and took the opportunity to move him up to the AHL.
Despite the logjam that caused with three goaltenders, at the time, with the Chicago Wolves, it benefited both Husso and the Wolves.
Husso has won nine games out of 17 played. He’s got a 2.48 goals against and .916 save percentage. The save percentage could be higher, but there is no doubt that he has been even better at the AHL level than he was in the league just below.
Perhaps the same would be true at the NHL level. He is only 22 and has plenty of time to develop, but there are plenty of those that think he, not Allen, might be the future of the team in goal.
On the one hand, it might be a slap in the face of the Snake to give him the reigns one year and then have his potential replacement in net a year after. On the other hand, the Blues may want to see what’s what while they still have Husso on an entry level deal.
Either way, Hutton will likely be gone after next season and that opens up possibilities for the Finn.