The reins have been handed to Joel Hofer as the next franchise goaltender for the St. Louis Blues. Well, not officially, but it is pretty much a done deal.
With the first preseason game come and gone, Jordan Binnington did not erase the pain from last season’s abysmal showing. It will be interesting to see how well Hofer does in the second game of the preseason, as he is slated to go on Monday night in Dallas.
Back to Hofer, according to about 120 thousand or so hockey fans in a survey for Hockeystats.com, he was not listed as a top-32 goaltender in the NHL. That is an egregious statement for a player who was second in the NHL last season in shutouts, with six, despite poor defense being played in front of him.
The top 32 goalies in the NHL entering the 2026-27 according to the fans.
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) September 18, 2026
1. Connor Hellebuyck
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy
3. Igor Shesterkin
4. Ilya Sorokin
5. Jeremy Swayman pic.twitter.com/6sWwgx9iE1
Flying under the radar
Hofer continues to fly under the national radar, and that could be used as an advantage. The Blues are transitioning away from Binnington and into a completely new era with Hofer, and that also comes with a younger core in front of him.
For the next 84 games, there will be a constant focus on the play of Hofer as the starter and Binnington, competing having more rest than he is used to. If No. 30 can replicate his form from last season with a lot more starts under his belt, the world will take notice.
Motivation
Not being listed as a top goaltender in the NHL is a sting for sure, but it can be used as some fuel for the fire. There is enough evidence to suggest that last season was a fluke run, and maybe we are all buying into Hofer because of how "off" Binnington has been. But there is a lot of truth as well that Hofer is the next man up, and rightly so.
Entering the 2026-27 season with a chip on your shoulder is a great sign, and Hofer can prove all of the doubters and naysayers wrong with his performance in the crease. He does not have to worry about any other distractions, as the starting role is essentially his for the taking, and everyone is not even aware of how good a goaltender he actually is.
To me, it looks like Hofer got a pretty good ranking by not being regarded as one of the better goaltenders in the NHL. By season's end, that should change.
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