St Louis Blues: Who Will Be The Next Jordan Binnington?

If you have not been following hockey since April, SPOILER ALERT, Jordan Binnington helped the St Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup.

This accomplishment was a total team effort, and this was a team built for the playoffs with their depth and size. No one player better personifies that depth than St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington.

We have all heard the story; Binnington was not even with a Blues minor league team last year. The Blues loaned Binnington to the Providence Bruins, and this year he was fourth on the depth chart.

At the beginning of this season, Binnington was behind NHL starter Jake Allen and backup goalie Chad Johnson. Binnington was the backup goalie, behind goalie of the future Ville Husso, for the Blues AHL affiliate the San Antonio Rampage.

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If anyone says they saw this coming, they are lying. Now I know friends, family, coaches all believed in Binnington, but no one saw this story playing out.

Binnington is a confident person, and he knew he would be successful once given the opportunity, but even he could not have dreamed of it ending the way it did.

Sometimes players are buried behind higher drafted or hyped players; sometimes, they are buried because teams do not feel they are ready and need someone to step in now.

This happened to Binnington throughout his career since being drafted. Just look at the goalie transactions the Blues have had since drafting Binnington.

After being drafted in the third round of the 2011 NHL draft, 88th overall, the Blues drafted six other goalies; Niklas Lundstrom, Francois Tremblay, Ville Husso, Luke Opilka, Evan Fitzpatrick, and Joel Hofer.

In addition, St. Louis signed or traded for nine goalies. The team signed Brian Elliott, Mike McKenna, Martin Brodeur, Carter Hutton, and Chad Johnson. The Blues then traded for Ryan Miller, Pheonix Copley, Anders Nilsson, and Jared Coreau.

Let us get back to that word, opportunity. Sometimes that is all you need, does not matter why or how he got it, all that matters is he got it, and he ran with it.

This week the Blues are holding a Prospect Camp at the Enterprise Center which will include recent draft picks, in September the Blues will participate in the 2019 NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City.

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Both of these events will allow someone to crack the Blues roster at the end of training camp. The question is, will one of them step up and take that opportunity and run with it. Based on the prospect camp roster, who do you see being the next Binnington?

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