Sports has always been a what have you done for me lately kind of business. The St. Louis Blues and the NHL are not immune to that.
While fans pine for the days when there was more loyalty and players stayed with one franchise almost their entire career, the reality is that those days are gone. We live in a social media age where as soon as anyone doesn't become a star their rookie year or has one off season, there are a multitude of fans ready to ship them out for the proverbial bag of pucks.
Somehow, Jordan Binnington ended up on that list of players that a very vocal section of the Blues fan base is more than willing to cast aside. The issue is that they're making their judgment on a very narrow set of viewpoints.
People that want him out will say that it's Joel Hofer's turn and also point out Binnington's pedestrian regular season numbers. I'm not here to argue against any of that.
I will say that I believe Binnington is better in the regular season than his numbers show and the defense has let him down with an unholy amount of grade-A chances against and backdoor plays, but the numbers are what they are. I also won't argue that at this point, perhaps Hofer should get the higher percentage of games in the 2026-27 season, even if that's only 51%.
However, the idea to get rid of Binnington is shortsighted. We don't have a full set of information to really judge this potential experiment.
Hofer has yet to play more than 46 games and that total came in 2025-26. He's had seasons of 30, 31 and 46 games in the NHL.
For all the bluster Hofer gets, his numbers aren't mind boggling. He's had save percentages of .913, .904, .905 and goals against of 2.65, 2.64, 2.61. His best goals against did come last year, but he had six shutouts and still managed a save percentage barely above 90% and a goals against in the upper 2's.
The Blues have too many unknowns to completely ship out Binnington. What if Hofer's production suffers under the weight of 50-60 games? Even though I'm defending Binnington here, it must be pointed out that his numbers went the wrong direction once he played that many games. For whatever reason, many modern goalies are not built to play the bulk of a season any longer and we have no reason to believe Hofer's numbers would be as good or better with more games.
What happens if Hofer suffers an injury? The Blues have had pretty good luck with goaltender health of late, other than the Kadri-induced injury in the playoffs. Their luck could run out at any time.
Are you willing to risk the season, even if it's still considered a building season on the likes of Will Cranley, Georgii Romanov or Vadim Zherenko? Baring a string of injuries, I've not seen enough of any of those guys to make me think they're ready for the NHL, even as a backup yet.
Last, but not least - maybe even the most - Binnington has an intangible that numbers won't quantify. He's a playoff goalie and has proven it enough to know 2019 was not a flash in the pan.
His one fault in the playoffs was when he was not mentally prepared for the covid-bubble playoffs. While not directly admitting it, he essentially admitted he was not ready since he said he hadn't kept in shape nor done any training.
There are many heroes of the 2019 Stanley Cup run, but without Binnington, the Blues get blown out in Game 7 the way that game trended at the start. If he's healthy, I argue they beat Colorado in 2022. St. Louis was the only team that put any fear into the Avalanche that season and it was because of Binner. Argue whether it was an accident or on purpose, but there's a reason that two of the biggest goalie injuries have come against the Blues and it's because both Grant Fuhr and Jordan Binnington stepped up in the playoffs and won games.
Don't get me wrong. I like Joel Hofer. He may very well be a goaltending star in this league for all we know.
I'm just not willing yet to be the next Pittsburgh Penguins or Philadelphia Flyers or, heaven forbid, Edmonton Oilers. I don't want to hand the reigns to someone just to find out we sent out a proven playoff winner for what might be and then be searching for another goalie in a year or two.
The Penguins sort of made it work, but they gave up on Marc-Andre Fleury and he still had plenty of productive years after that and nearly won a Stanley Cup after leaving. Meanwhile the Penguins did have a run with Matt Murray, but then dumped him for Tristan Jarry and that didn't work out at all.
The Flyers have had a consistent revolving door of goalies for decades. After Ron Hextall, they've always been searching for the next guy.
I understand the logic behind not letting a player go for nothing since Binnington will be a free agent in the summer of 2027. However, maybe it's the European soccer fan in me, but in this instance, I'm ok with having him for one more year and then seeing how things play out.
A $6 million cap hit is a bit high for someone that might be considered a backup in 2026-27. I'm willing to spend that to give Hofer one more year to develop and show he can handle things. I'm willing to spend that to have the security of a proven playoff goalie in case the Blues take a positive step, make the playoffs and need to ride two goalies.
Recent history has shown that good teams need two goalies. If the Carolina Hurricanes only had Freddy Andersen, they might not be ahead 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Final. The 2016 Blues made it all the way to the Western Conference Final because they had the security of both Brian Elliott and Jake Allen instead of just one.
Regardless of numbers, I'd put the tandem of Hofer and Binnington against any other in the league. Let's keep it that way one more year and then you still have $6 million in cap space if you do let Binnington move on without needing to justify a roster spot for anyone you might acquire in a potential trade.
At the very least, let the 26-27 season play out and if you're not in a playoff spot, there are plenty of playoff hopefuls that would overspend on a goalie like Binner at the trade deadline. There's no rush. Keep him in a bluenote for now.
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