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Coming off a second-round playoff exit after falling to the Colorado Avalanche in six games, the St. Louis Blues face a dilemma with their goaltending situation this offseason.
From the time Jordan Binnington led the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup in 2019, he's been the go-to guy in net. So as the team's starter over the last few years and with a long-term contract in place, his status as the team's top goalie was clear coming into the season. However, an unexpected challenger emerged for the Blues this season, with Ville Husso stepping up as another option in net.
After Husso's .893 save percentage through 17 games in the 2020-21 season, he obviously didn't present as much of a legitimate challenger to take over as the team's starter, if even a full-time NHL goalie. Husso came out of nowhere this season to post excellent numbers though, with a .919 save percentage. With Binnington having a rough year, it opened the door for Husso to take more of the workload and he took advantage, playing in 40 games this season.
Binnington has statistically declined in each year since his rookie season. His save percentage has dropped from a .927 in the Blues' Cup-winning season in 2018-19, to a .912 SV% in the 2019-20 season, then down a .910 last season, followed by just a .901 save percentage this season.
That said, while each netminder saw action in the playoffs, Binnington had the far superior performance. Husso was trusted as the starter heading into the postseason but after back-to-back disappointing performances in Games 2 and 3 against the Minnesota Wild, Binnington was called into action. He played excellent in his playoff stint, recording a .949 save percentage through six games with the Blues. However, an injury to Binnington forced Husso back into action and he wasn't great, finishing the playoffs with an .890 save percentage through seven games overall.
The situation in net leads to an interesting dilemma for the Blues, with Husso set to become an unrestricted free agent. The Blues aren't necessarily in a bad cap situation but investing money into two different goalies seems unrealistic. St. Louis has to keep some cap space available to re-sign some of their key players or replace them should they head elsewhere. David Perron has been an important forward with the team for the last four years and has produced at a great rate, while Nick Leddy was a solid trade deadline acquisition and other free agents like Niko Mikkola will need extensions as well. As a result, St. Louis needs to make a decision in which goaltender to keep and if they decide Husso is the better option, it means Binnington would almost certainly need to be traded.
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Binnington seems like the option carrying the least risk, given his past experience and ability to play a high number of games while usually posting at least a .910 save percentage. Even if Binnington likely is the most stable option though, there's certainly an argument he's still not an ideal starter for the Blues, based on his inconsistencies, as well as his contract. The netminder's deal raises some concerns, with five years remaining at a $6 million cap hit and his play declining year-to-year, that's a lot of money committed to Binnington for a long time.
Husso is just 27 years old and while he has just 57 regular season NHL games under his belt, he did show a lot of upside this year. It would certainly be a gamble to go with Husso but there are reasons to consider it.
If the Blues were able to move Binnington, Husso gives them the option to continue on with a goalie they're familiar with and who would come at a cheaper price and a shorter term. The move could give the team some flexibility to get out from under Binnington's deal which could turn out pretty rough if he continues to decline. Realistically, either goalie is going to carry some risk as the team's starter and if they think they can get similar results with a goalie on a better contract, it's worth exploring. It was reported by Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli in March that the Blues had talked to teams about potentially moving Binnington, though obviously that didn't get anywhere.
The most obvious issue with any potential Binnington trade though is his trade protection. Binnington has a full no-movement clause meaning if the Blues were looking to deal him elsewhere, he'd have to fully approve and be willing to waive it. If Binnington wants to stay put, the Blues' hands are tied, at least until the no-move clause becomes a partial no-trade clause in two years from now.
It still seems highly likely the Blues do opt to keep Binnington. Between his no-trade clause and experience as a starter, along with his playoff performance compared to Husso's postseason play, it's probable that Binnington is back and Husso hits the market. At the very least though, Husso's performance this season creates an alternative option for the Blues to explore.
