This week is shaping up to be a transformative one for the Blues. Amid mounting interest for forward cornerstone Robert Thomas, they’ve also been fielding more sparse interest in starting goaltender Jordan Binnington over the last several months. That appears to be coming to a head now as NHL Network’s Brian Lawton reports they’re “ready to move on” from Binnington and that it “feels like a move is a forgone [sic] conclusion.”
That’s a sharp change in direction from the feeling surrounding Binnington as of late, which was that they were listening to offers but weren’t close to seriously considering a move. He’d been left off most trade boards or ranked rather low on them as a result. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta had him as a “bubble player” outside of his top-40 as of an update this morning. He was down at 24th on TSN’s most recent Trade Bait list and 43rd on Chris Johnston’s list for The Athletic yesterday.
In all likelihood, his and Thomas’ futures in St. Louis go hand in hand. It makes little sense for a team teetering between a moderate retool and an aggressive rebuild to move one player of either’s caliber and importance but not the other. As such, it’s natural that there would be an increased willingness to shop Binnington amid some intriguing offers for Thomas in the last few days from the Mammoth and Sabres, which has general manager Doug Armstrong seemingly leaning toward a move in that department as well.
Binnington’s trade value is hard to gauge. On one hand, he’s on a desirable contract for an established but inconsistent starter with a cap hit of $6MM that expires after next season. He’s also coming off exceptional performances as Team Canada’s starter on the international stage in back-to-back years. guiding Canada to a championship at last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off and putting up a .917 SV% in five games en route to a silver medal at last month’s Winter Olympics. He’s also a Cup champion and Calder Trophy finalist with a largely above-average track record in the playoffs.
That shouldn’t completely shroud the fact that Binnington has been the NHL’s worst starter this season, bar none. The Blues’ skater core has been below-average but not catastrophic defensively. Binnington’s .867 SV% and 8-18-6 record in 31 starts this year are more individually damning than representative of the team in front of him, especially when considering backup Joel Hofer‘s .899 SV% in a similar workload. The analytics back that up – Binnington’s -23.8 goals saved above expected are the worst in the league, per MoneyPuck.
The latter’s hot streak as of late and intriguing track record as a prospect only make moving on from Binnington a more natural position to take, especially if St. Louis has a chance to squeeze more return value out of him now with an acquiring team getting to take two swings at a playoff run with him before he reaches free agency. Hofer has another year left at $3.4MM before becoming an arbitration-eligible free agent. He’s now up to even in GSAx on the year after a rough start similar to Binnington’s and has a 14-11-3 record to show for it. That includes a .905 SV% in his last 15 outings, matching his career average to this point.
Self proclaimed insiders will say anything this time of year for attention.
Maybe a KHL team might want him in a favorable trade…haha
I’ll ask the same question I have for Pens fans/media types who talk about trading Skinner…
To who?
Which contender needs a G? CAR seems to like Bussi. Unless VGK does their periodic net reshuffle (hard with Hill’s contract)…who?
Carolina need a 3rd tender to cover for Anderson when he goes down. Just has to be a 2A, like Stolarz or Woll.
Kotkaniemi ($1M retained), Felix Unger Sörum, and a 20272nd and Andersen for Binnington and Schenn
As a Canes fan, I do this deal in a minute.
Ducks, Canes, Oilers, even Vegas could use him. The better question is which contending team could use a goalie who is absolutely dominant when it comes to the playoffs in the big game. Answer… every team..
Dostal has won, like, 11 of his past 13 starts or something.
Oilers shot their…shot.
I mentioned Canes and VGK but…doubt it.
The better question is what dominant goalie do you mean…the one from 7 years ago?
Not singlehandedly sinking Team Canada is not exactly dominance.
Take a look at his track record during the playoffs before you make nonsense comments.
OK…I did.
.901 or under SV% in 3 of his 5 playoff runs.
Other than the flukiest Cup run in history, he had one strong run in a series loss.
Yeah with a crap team supporting him. A “fluke” would have started one his career debut on the road and getting a shut out and carrying through the second half of the season all the way through the entire playoffs where by the way he did not miss one game. Also, I’m not quite sure but there’s a tournament called four nations? Yeah, I guess he was pretty average in that one too. Oh and there’s also another thing called the Winter Olympics, which he again brought Canada to the finals all the way to the final minutes. He’s a big game player pal. That’s all you need to know. Don’t be ignorant. Sounds like you’re some sort of jealous Chicago blackhawks fan. lol.
Bud, no one is trading any great package for Binnington. Or likely at all.
There is a “leading saleman at the local Hyundai dealer” energy about your effort I can appreciate, though.
Also, why don’t you see the flaw in the “well, he’s good when you put one of best core of skaters in hockey history in front of him” argument?
Collect your thoughts before you respond, “bud”. You’re clearing not understanding my point and I really don’t want to dumb it down for you. But here, this may help. He has put several average to below, average to even crap teams on his back and still came up on top. When his team needs him to step up, he steps up. Oh, and by the way… and maybe since it sounds like you might be a car salesman for a fancier brand like oh I don’t know “Kia”, GM’s look into professional players that can show up during big games.
“He has put several average to below, average to even crap teams on his back and still came up on top.”
Name one time.
Unless you are referring to the 2019 Blues as a below average to even crap team…name one time he did that.
Team Canada doesn’t count.
When has “put several average to below, average to even crap teams on his back and still came up on top?”
Canada does count you can’t just exempt them because you want to. Of course the 2019 St. Louis Blues run which Binner arguably was the main reason for. Let’s not forget about Four Nations and what beginner was able to do there along with the second half of his season with the Blues going all the way to game 7 in overtime, almost beating the number one team in the west. Not to mention his first half of the season last year was god-awful until he dominated in Four Nations. So you can sit here and cry all you want just because you’re jealous over dinner, but you don’t need a bash a player just because he’s not on your team. Your points are terrible and I bet your friends secretly hate talking sports with you because you clearly don’t have any clue what you’re talking about and base your arguments on your soft levels of emotions rather than facts. lol
Fact: You are projecting.
You are now referring to Team Canada and the 2019 Cup Champions as “average to below average to even crap teams” which is nutso.
A moronic (and emotional) claim on which to hang one’s hat.
No one paid the price for him because it’s too high for him.
Who is going to trade for that mental patient?
I would assume if your team did, you would be buying his jersey. lol. goalies are a different breed and when they’re really good for the games that matter that’s all that matters.
Oilers