St. Louis is no stranger to great goaltending. Jordan Binnington has been minding the net for seven seasons now, and his backup, Joel Hofer, just received a 2-year extension to serve as the reserve in St. Louis.
Both goalies are above average for their respective positions and playing time, and both have shown flashes of true brilliance. How much does the 2025-26 season hinge on the play of these two goaltenders? Let's analyze the netminder situation in St. Louis.
Jordan Binnington: the winningest goaltender in franchise history
Last season, Jordan Binnington set the franchise record for goaltender wins and is only improving on that mark. He proved himself to be the greatest goalie in St. Louis Blues hockey history with a historic benchmark and heroic effort after heroic effort.
Binnington has the career of an all-time Blues great and is only looking to improve upon his last season. He finished the year with a .900 save percentage, and an alright mark, but both fans and Binner alike would like to see that statistic climb even higher. He's set marks of .912, .913, and even .927 previously, meaning there is plenty of room for growth.
If he can improve upon his season total and finish with a save percentage north of .910, carrying the lion's share of games, he should be able to bring this team another successful and winning season. Binnington's win total should only climb higher and higher, but how high he can get in one season could be more than fans are expecting.
With a real competent team around him once again, I'd bet on preparing for one of Binnington's better seasons in his career. He has the defense to help block shots on goal, he has the offense to help accrue wins, and he has the potential to shove and be one of the best goaltenders in the league. I think he can get to 30 wins once more and firmly establish himself as one of the best goaltenders in the league.
There is even more added incentive for Binnington: the Olympics. Binnington should be the de facto starter for Team Canada after his heroic performance in the Four Nations Face-Off finals, meaning we could be in for an all-time season from #50. It is finally time for Binnington to silence all the remaining doubters and prove once again that he's among the best in the business.
Joel Hofer: a solid backup, and maybe more?
Hofer earned himself a two-year extension this offseason, and the Blues are confident with him as the backup. Last season, he put up a .904 save percentage, an alright mark for a backup.
The season previous, however, Hofer stopped .913% of the shots he faced, which is a very good mark for a starter, let alone a backup. Hofer has shown the potential to even be starting-caliber, and while that opportunity will never come as long as Binnington remains healthy, if he can make the most of his looks, he should have another great season.
Hofer is prone to the occasional blowup game where he lets in 4+ goals, so it seems the last step for Hofer's ascension is to cut out the bad games and show a little more poise in between the pipes. This is something that often comes with time for goaltenders, who naturally age much more gracefully than skaters.
Hofer is a big goalie, but that doesn't stop him from making extremely athletic saves. He has the makings of a starting-caliber goalie, and could even prove that this coming season. If Hofer takes even a small step forward from his year-end numbers last season or even beyond what his career best season stats are, he will be one of the best backups in the league, if not the best outright.
Both Binnington and Hofer have room for upside and growth in their games. Binnington is hitting the sweet spot for the goalie aging curve as he has now been through the ups and downs of the league and is ready to show off all that he's learned. And Hofer is a young and ascending player who has already proven to be one of the better backups around.
As a tandem, this has the potential to be the best goaltending tandem in the NHL, if all goes right. And even if things don't go best-case scenario, the St. Louis Blues should still be set up well enough for the future with a great goaltending duo.