The St. Louis Blues are on track to start the 2025-26 with a tandem consisting of starter Jordan Binnington and backup Joel Hofer. The tandem looks solid, especially when considering how highly the Blues regard Hofer.
This past offseason, the Blues moved to extend Hofer amid fears of a potential offer sheet. The Blues did the right thing by inking the 25-year-old to a two-year extension.
But there could be a potential goalie situation in the mix for the Blues. Allow me to elaborate.
In an August 27 piece in The Athletic, James Mirtle responded to reader questions in part 3 of this mailbag column. Mirtle addressed the questions regarding the Edmonton Oilers’ goaltending situation. In his comments, Mirtle underscored how the Oilers could pry a goalie away from a team with a solid goalie tandem.
One of the teams that Mirtle singled out was St. Louis.
The St. Louis Blues?
It’s clear that the Blues have two capable goalies. But do Mirtle’s comments refer to Hofer or Binnington? The question has led me to ponder whether Hofer could make Binnington expendable for the Blues.
The short answer is no. There’s no way that Hofer makes Binnington expandable, at least not this season. The Blues have playoff aspirations, and Binnington is crucial toward that aim. But what if Hofer excelled to the point where he could unseat Binnington?
If the Oilers were willing to pay a king’s ransom for Binnington, it might be a deal worth considering. But then again, the Blues have a franchise goalie in Binnington. So, the odds of the Blues trading Binnington would be extremely low.
Blues could trade Binnington if he doesn’t re-sign
Jordan Binnington has two years left on his current contract. He carries a $6.4 million cap hit. That’s a reasonable cap hit, considering the going rate for bona fide NHL starting goalies these days.
But then again, what would happen if the Blues are unable to extend Binnington? What if it’s August of 2026 and the Blues don’t seem likely to re-sign Binnington? Could the Blues consider a trade at that point?
Again, the short answer would be no. The Blues need Binnington as part of the core the club has been building around. But then again, what if Hofer is poised to become a starter? Would that change things?
These are complex issues the Blues would have to consider moving forward. Binnington remains one of the league’s best goalies. He’s the presumptive starter for Team Canada at the 2026 Olympics and could be considered a boost to any team.
But as we’ve seen in other cases, the Blues could become another statistic, that is, a team moving on from a star simply because it cannot re-sign them before hitting free agency.
The clock is ticking for the Blues to extend Binnington.