The St. Louis Blues have kept fans’ interest thanks to churning out better results in the early stage of the Jim Montgomery era. A fair share has surprised us, and that trend should continue as we dive deeper into the 2024-25 season.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t been such a fun experience for a few players in Gateway City, as they should have put together far better of a campaign than they have through the first two months in 2024-25.
Back in November, I talked about a few players who needed to step it up as the season transitioned into full force. Did anyone from that “hallowed few” make the list again?
Jordan Binnington
I know a lot of us like Jordan Binnington, but right now, his 0.897 save percentage and 60 goals allowed have him mired in mediocrity. While he has a shutout and an adequate 2.93 GAA, Binnington is more than capable of holding things down in the crease better, and it hasn’t happened yet through the quarter-way mark of the season.
That said, Binnington has a 0.600 quality starts percentage and 12 quality starts on the year, so it hasn’t been all bad regarding the Blues star goaltender. But, if he’s looking to remain as the franchise goalie in the Lou and refrain from giving the job to the upstart Joel Hofer, Binnington has some work to do.
Brandon Saad
Brandon Saad played the ‘hero’ role quite a few times in 2023-24, and maybe he’ll find a groove again at some point this year. Still, four goals and 10 points so far this year and a 9.5 shooting percentage have been more than a letdown, and it’s not like Saad has missed so much ice time that those numbers are low by default.
With the Blues ‘retool’ still in full effect, Saad could be one of those ‘older’ players for general manager Doug Armstrong to send elsewhere and create room for younger talent. That younger talent could be someone from the AHL ranks, depending on how things look in March, or maybe even acquired talent.
Justin Faulk
For real, what has happened to Justin Faulk this season? The good news is that he’s logged a couple of helpers lately, but wow, he’s got seven points and a goal in 26 games, a far cry from the half-point-per-game blueliner he was last season.
Faulk has, at times, been an adequate goal-scorer throughout his career, but he’s also been a playmaker, which was the case last season when he had 28 assists in 60 games. Yeah, Faulk is on the other side of 30, but not to the point he should be on a steep decline just yet in his career.