The St. Louis Blues have been showcased with an established, franchise-leading goaltender, for nearly a decade. Jordan Binnington has been a rock for this franchise for a long-time, but his tenure with this team might be coming to it's end.
In 2025-26, he took a major step back, and it had a direct effect on the outcome of the underwhelming season. No. 50 is not all to blame, but there is a pretty big coorelation to his downfall, and this team's.
Let's try and grade him for his performance last season.
Expectation for 2025-26
Going into the 2025-26 season, the trust in Binnington was at the highest it has ever been. Even so in back-up goaltender Joel Hofer, as the duo were one of the best kept secrets in the Western Conference in 2024-25.
Binnington was a key reason why the Blues were able to make that miraculous playoff push, and he alone was stellar in the first round playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets.
All eyes were on Binnington to have another stellar year in 2025-26, but, that was not the case.
Grade: D
Last season was the worst year of Binnington's career, by far. It was frustrating to watch, as I am sure it was just as frustrating for him as well.
At 13-20-7, with a save percentage of .873 and a goals against average of 3.33, it was a horrendous year for Binnington. He was pulled often, and Hofer's emergence as the next starter became apparent.
His performance against the Minnesota Wild on opening night was one of the worst all-around team performances, and it really set the tone for the whole campaign. There were some moments of prime Binner thrown in there, but all-in-all, it was not great.
Binnington's overall bright spot came in a different jersey. Like the Four Nations Face-off from the season prior, Binnington was selected as the goaltender for Team Canada in the 2026 Olympics. He took his country to the Gold Medal game, before ultimately losing to the United States.
Where does he go from here?
This offseason is going to be a different one for Binnington and the Blues. There is not a concrete yes as to whether he will be a part of this team in October. Even if he is, there is also no guarentee that he will still be on this team following next season's trade deadline.
Hofer likely has the keys to the kingdom now, and Binnington will now be riding the bench more often. Which could be a good thing, considering that Binnington historically plays better with more rest.
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