The St. Louis Blues went into the 2026-27 season with an unofficial changing of the guard for the starting goaltender spot. For years, it has been Jordan Binnington's net, but after a lackluster performance in 2025-26, the title has changed over to Joel Hofer.
After 16 games, the Blues should be thankful that they made the switch in the summer, and not now. Hofer has been dependable, whereas Binnington might be playing his very last games here with the franchise that he holds so many records with.
Just how important has Hofer been, and why should he be labeled as this team's saving grace this season?
Team MVP thus far
Looking up and down the roster, there is nobody who has more of an impact than Hofer does. Not even because of the clear distinction between his performance this season and Binnigton's.
This franchise would not be any bit close to what their .500 record reflects if not for No. 30.
In 11 starts, he has a record of 6-4-1, with a save percentage of .918, and a goals against average of 2.39. Looking at that save percentage, that is good enough for second for goaltenders with over 10 games played this season, behind the tie of Minnesota Wild netminder Jesper Wallstedt and Carolina Hurricanes standout Pyotr Kochetkov.
Not bad company to be in.
Importance from here on out?
From here on out, there is going to be a very interesting storyline occurring. Binnington cannot be trusted to man the backup spot, and you have to assume that Blues General Manager Alexander Steen is working the phones to move on.
If that were to happen, Will Cranley from Springfield would likely be the call-up to back up Hofer, but then one more thing happens. Hofer gets a much larger workload than he already has, and the idea of him hitting 60+ starts this year becomes the expectation, not just an idea.
Hofer has to be perfect for the rest of this season, as he is the last hope for this team to make a potential playoff run. It might not be in the cards, but it also wasn't anticipated two years ago when they made their magical run in 2024-25.
The Blues have to give credit to their young goaltender and embrace just how great he can be. This entire core group has changed, and now, their netminder has changed as well.
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