St. Louis Blues Waiting In The Wings: Ville Husso

The St. Louis Blues have seemingly found their goaltender of the future in Jordan Binnington, which leaves young Ville Husso in an awkward position.

Ville Husso has been the St. Louis Blues future in between the pipes for the last two years. However, with the emergence of Binnington, Husso seems to be on the outside looking in for playing time in the NHL.

Injuries played a big part in Husso’s 2018-19 season, only appearing in 27 games for the San Antonio Rampage in the AHL. The 27 games Husso did play in, did not go well for the 24-year-old Finnish netminder.

Husso had a 6-17-1 record, finishing third on the team in wins behind Binnington and Jordan Coreau. Aside from his six-win season, Husso’s stats were not very good either, and he had a .871 SV% and a 3.22 GAA.

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The injuries may have played a part in the below-average numbers. He had sustained an ankle injury in December that kept him out of the lineup for a few months.

Having never played a second of goalie in my life, I could only imagine that moving in the crease with an unhealthy ankle would not be easy.

His professional career in North America had started very promisingly, and the former fourth-round pick was proving why he was quickly rising in the Blues system.

In his first season with the Chicago Wolves, Husso posted a .920 SV% and a minuscule 2.37 GAA. Although he did struggle in the playoffs for the Blues affiliate, allowing 3.36 goals per game and stopping just .898% of the shots he faced.

Life in San Antonio never seemed to bother Husso. Two seasons ago, Husso continued his strong regular season numbers, recording a .922 SV% and a 2.42 GAA and was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team.

Seeing the previous season’s numbers for Husso before the 2018-19 season provides a silver lining for the Finnish goalie to turn things around next year if he is healthy.

It is next to impossible that Husso will make the team out of training camp this season, so he will likely open up as San Antonio’s starting goalie.

The biggest question surrounding Husso’s status with the organization is how far down is he on the depth chart. Evan Fitzpatrick was called up by the Blues last season when St. Louis needed a backup goalie, and he had a stellar season in the minors.

The 2016 second-round pick split time between the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers and the Rampage. With Tulsa, Fitzpatrick appeared in 25 games, had a 3.30 GAA and a save percentage of .874.

Fitzpatrick’s time in San Antonio was limited but really good. The 21-year-old made appearances in eight games and netted a 2.66 GAA with a .901 SV%.

His call up over Husso’s was given because of Husso’s injuries, but Fitzpatrick’s performances last season begs the question of who the Blues value higher.

If the Blues were to move on from Jake Allen, neither of the two aforementioned goalies would slot in as the backup and St. Louis would need to go outside the organization for help.

Regardless of who the Blues have as their backup goalie next season, Husso should still have a good amount of trade value attached to his name.

Husso’s performance in the upcoming season is going to make or break his perception with the Blues and St. Louis has only good things to gain from his playing well.

It’s hard to project how the Blues want to handle Husso. With the emergence of Binnginton at 25 years old, the St. Louis has their goalie of the future. Not to mention the impressive play of Fitzpatrick, it will be interesting to see what is in store for Husso.