The St. Louis Blues have an excellent goaltender waiting in the wings in Joel Hofer, and don't be surprised if and when he sees more action in the net. Hofer's more than made his case, even if Jordan Binnington, at worst, is the 1A and that must be the norm until he proves he's no longer capable of spending so much time in the crease.
Binnington's numbers weren't spectacular last season, with a 2.69 GAA, a 0.900 save percentage, three shutouts, and a 0.574 quality starts percentage. But they were more than enough to help the Blues snap a short playoff drought and ultimately take the mighty Winnipeg Jets as far as an underdog could.
While solid play in all three zones is a minimum requirement for that kind of success, it starts and ends with more-than serviceable goaltending. So, barring injury you won't see Binnington play in fewr than 45 games, even if I'm not expecting him to hit the 56-game mark that he reached last year.
But that's not a bad thing, because more games off means a fresher Binnington in the net, and that will be an X-factor to take the Blues further in the NHL's toughest division.
Fewer games from Jordan Binnington could take the St. Louis Blues further
While the Blues will face some brutal competition in what could be a seven-team race for a top-three spot in the Central if the Nashville Predators bounce back and the Utah Mammoth take a much-anticipated step forward, having a No. 1 netminder sidle closer to a 1A role (roughly 45 games/year) means Blues opponents would need to catch him and/or Hofer on off nights.
That means they could give some of the toughest teams in the division, like the Dallas Stars, a little more competition, and it'd increase the odds of them steamrolling weaker teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, even if I wouldn't underestimate the Hawks.
With reduced games and an even better Blues team around him, Binnington could easily dive back into the 0.910 range for save percentage, snag a good trio of shutouts, and maybe even see his overall GAA climb to something around the 2.50 mark.
Should all of the above go down, then the Blues will be a better team than they were, even if they end up finishing fifth in that rough Central Division for a second straight season.