There's no way Colten Ellis is anything more than another netminder in camp for the St. Louis Blues this season. But wow, talk about someone who's gonna be stellar organizational depth this year.
Last season for the Springfield Thunderbirds Ellis broke out with a 0.922 save percentage, a 2.63 GAA, three shutouts, and 22 wins. This season, expect even better numbers, and that should give Blues fans confidence that he'll at least help them hold their own if Jordan Binnington or Joel Hofer go down with injuries.
And if you're one of those fans saying, "Who's Colten Ellis?" let me give you a rundown, because you probably won't see him in a Blue Note this season except in a preseason game or two. The Blues drafted Ellis with the 93rd pick in 2019, and he's since been bouncing between the ECHL and AHL since his playing days ended in the QMJHL.
But more recently, Ellis has been with the second-tier club in Springfield, showing extensive improvement in his game. And for Blues fans, this is a huge weight lifted off their backs.
Not many NHL teams have capable organizational depth at goalie like Colten Ellis
The only knock on Ellis is that he doesn't have any NHL experience. But, given the way he played in Springfield last season, I'm convinced he'll put up respectable play if needed. Yeah, that comes with at least a halfway decent team in the Lou, but Ellis has proven himself at the lower levels.
That's huge for the Blues, since you don't always see this in the NHL. You hope you never have to dig into organizational depth to begin with, but for most teams, they hope they ever need to use a third-tier netminder for too long.
While that would be the same with Ellis this season, it's not like he's destined for the minor leagues for his entire career. He'll stick around there in 2025-26, but if the Blues keep Binnington and Hofer long term, someone like Ellis can also be trade bait, going elsewhere for a chance in the NHL while the Blues snag someone who can help them win now.
That would be the ideal scenario here, especially after what we'd seen from Binnington and Hofer last season. So, keep a close eye on Ellis, because if he improves his game in the net even more, maybe he'll end up facng the Blues at some point this season.