Snubbing Jordan Binnington from a recent ranking was a travesty

There are times when you look at a specific ranking, and you can’t help but shake your head. The NHL Network’s recent ranking of the Top 10 Goaltenders - see X card below - is an example of that, as St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington did not grace the top 10. 

Some may claim this article will have a bias in favor of the Blues, but you look at those rankings and most NHL fans will point out a few names that should have been kept off the list, namely Ilya Sorokin and Jake Oettinger. While the former is one of the best goaltenders in the league from a career standpoint, that wasn’t the case last season, and this was a “Best Right Now” ranking. 

Oettinger, despite enjoying a strong playoff, struggled in the regular season and was, at best, inconsistent. Meanwhile, Binnington never flopped last season, even if the Blues were rarely serious playoff contenders. 

Jordan Binnington was somehow snubbed in a recent goaltender ranking

Last season, Jordan Binnington faced a lot of scrutiny, as the St. Louis Blues didn’t look like a great team offensively or defensively. They couldn’t score, and they allowed a lot of shots on goal, meaning Binnington and fellow goaltender Joel Hofer had their respective work cut out for them. 

Despite this, the duo, especially the No. 1 guy in Binnington, did an outstanding job and managed to fend off opponents and keep the Blues competitive, both in games and, to an extent, down the stretch. 

Overall, when you look at this list, you’ll notice that each goaltender played for playoff teams, so perhaps a better name for it would have been something like, ‘Top 10 Goaltenders Who Played for Playoff Teams.” That said, some names, like Igor Shesterkin, Connor Hellebuyck, and Jeremy Swayman, deserved to be listed. 

But others, and another name being Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators, played decently but nowhere near their respective level. Binnington may have finished the year with a 2.84 GAA, but his 0.913 save percentage, trio of shutouts, and 0.600 quality starts percentage tell us that he fared well enough to at least have warranted strong consideration for a top-10 spot. 

(Statistics powered by Hockey-Reference)