St. Louis Blues Top Five Age 25-and-Under Players

4. Ville Husso

In the same category of Kostin, Ville Husso is another name we have heard about for a long time but yet to see in the NHL. Husso has dressed for a handful of NHL games, but has yet to play an official minute.

For quite some time, Hosso’s name has been on the lips of many fans. The perception was he was the Blues franchise goaltender in waiting.

Many fans were claiming the Blues should have jettisoned Jake Allen long before they did and handed the reigns to Husso at the time. Thankfully for all of us, those people were not in charge.

If they were, we would not have seen Jordan Binnington take over and the Blues might not have won the 2019 Stanley Cup. Regardless of that, Husso is still high on the team’s list.

The fact remains that if Husso had not been injured at the time, it is highly likely that the Blues would have promoted him instead of Binnington when they had the injury problems in January of 2019. Now, the Blues are in a spot where they have to figure out what Husso can provide and quickly.

Binnington is in the final year of his contract and had a poor showing in the 2020 playoffs. The Blues are now relying on the unproven Husso to be a solid backup for Binnington and potentially a replacement if Binnington proves to be human throughout the next season.

The projected talent is still there. Husso was recently listed as number 10 on NHL Network’s Top 10 up and coming goaltenders, so the analysts still think he’s ready to break out and just needs the chance.

Like Kostin, it’s all potential though. His AHL numbers are not bad, but nothing to write home about either.

Husso will have every opportunity to prove what he’s got in the next season though. There’s no reason to doubt him yet, since we have not seen him and goaltenders tend to find their grove later than skaters anyway. Clocking in at 25 right now, he just makes the limit.