The St. Louis Blues are pretty stocked down in the minor leagues. Getting off to a good start for any player is key for their season and for potential call-ups.
The St. Louis Blues have one of the best player pipelines they have had in many years. They were ranked as high as eighth in a recent look at minor-league systems.
How that translates into professional success remains to be seen. Some players might only turn out to be good junior players. So far the Blues have plenty of guys that are succeeding in juniors. Other guys might be career AHL players.
Will this current group of young players find their spark? Time will tell. So, let’s check in for the second time this young season.
Jordan Binnington
Jordan Binnington has not been able to get much action since our last check in on the prospects. He has at least played though, which is more than the last time.
Binnington was loaned to the Providence Bruins of the AHL. He has only seen action in two games, but his stats are ok.
He’s got a 2.52 goals against and a save percentage of .907. Neither one is fantastic, but in limited action the stats are not bad either.
Clearly this is not the ideal situation for Binnington. He is making the most of the situation though and handling things in a professional manner.
Ville Husso
Sticking with the goaltenders, we look once again at the Blues’ potential goaltender of the future. Despite St. Louis finding a home for Ville Husso right away, he has not seen as much action as you would like.
The San Antonio Rampage have played nine games and Husso has only been in three. That seems to have become a theme as Husso played in one of the Rampage’s first three games to begin the year, so they seem to be trying to let each goaltender have about a game every three starts or so.
Things have turned around a little for Husso in his second two games. After one, he had a 5.11 goals against and .853 save percentage.
Now, he’s gotten those numbers to a much more respectable level. Husso is currently at 2.69 goals against and .927 save percentage.
Again, they are not stellar numbers, but it took a couple strong games to get those numbers back down.
Fans wondering about Husso’s inactivity are not wrong. You want him playing.
However, with him currently backing up Jake Allen in the NHL while Carter Hutton awaits the birth of his first child, Husso is not missing much. He has only missed one AHL game that he was not going to start anyway. He is also getting the added benefit of practicing against NHL competition.
Husso needs to get a string of games together to really find his footing this season. Whether he gets that is up in the air. For now, practicing with the big boys is probably the best for him in this scenario.