The St. Louis Blues are no longer in win-now mode, but they have some promising young players in their NHL lineup and on the way up. However, one player who doesn’t figure into their future contention window is veteran goaltender Jordan Binnington. The 32-year-old is set to enter the final year of his contract, and given his age and uneven play, it doesn’t make much sense for the Blues to keep him around if he isn’t part of their plans beyond next year. St. Louis isn’t going to compete next season, and with many of their veterans already moved out and several teams desperate for help in goal, the time is right for St. Louis to trade Binnington.
Binnington is clearly beloved in St. Louis for helping the city win its first Stanley Cup in 2019. He did so as a 25-year-old rookie and continued his strong play through his first few NHL seasons, earning Vezina Trophy consideration in several of those years. He then inked a long-term deal in March 2021, giving him a $6MM AAV over six years.
Binnington would remain an above-average netminder for most of the next three seasons before his play began to decline during the 2024-25 season and carried into this past year. It was then that the Blues reportedly became interested in moving Binnington at the NHL Trade Deadline, though they ultimately kept him. Now, with Binnington in the final year of his deal and most of his trade protection removed, the likelihood of a trade is high.
The Edmonton Oilers feel like the logical fit for Binnington, given their ongoing struggles to find solid netminding during the Connor McDavid era. The Oilers thought Tristan Jarry would be the answer after a mid-season trade this past December, but it was clear at the time that the Jarry experiment was a panic move, and the results were tepid, to put it generously. Binnington’s big-game history is a complete 180 from Jarry’s track record in big games, but both veterans have lacked consistency over the past two years, so it’s tough to call Binnington an upgrade for the Oilers. That said, Binnington has performed well for Team Canada over the past couple of years, but behind poor defense, his numbers haven’t been good, and that would likely be the experience in Edmonton as well.
Another potential suitor could be the Florida Panthers, who could lose Sergei Bobrovsky to free agency. Bobrovsky is five years older than Binnington and is likely seeking his last big payday. While his relationship with the Panthers has been highly productive, anything can happen in free agency, and his departure is possible. Binnington would offer Florida a big-game goaltender at a low cost, with a chance to play behind a solid defensive team. This would be of interest to the Panthers, since the only other realistic option would be Stuart Skinner, whom the Panthers twice defeated in the Stanley Cup Finals while he was with the Edmonton Oilers.
The Los Angeles Kings did not get the goaltending they hoped for from starting netminder Darcy Kuemper, who posted a 19-14-15 record with a 2.78 GAA and an .891 SV%. The 36-year-old is entering the final year of his contract and may not be the answer for a Kings team hoping to finally make noise in the playoffs after years of first-round exits. Binnington wouldn’t be the Kings’ long-term answer, but in the short term, he could be an upgrade over Kuemper and is four years younger.
Finally, a handful of other teams could use an upgrade in goal for this upcoming season. The San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils have both gone through difficult rebuilds and are at different stages of emerging from them. The Devils have had a failure to launch after their rebuild, making a couple of playoff appearances and even winning a series, but they haven’t been a playoff team in two of the last three years, and their one appearance was a five-game exit. Those years in which the Devils missed the postseason have largely been due to poor goaltending, including this year, when Jacob Markstrom played poorly after signing a two-year extension. Markstrom’s play coincided with the Devils’ fall, and it’s fair to wonder whether the Devils trust him to be the guy as they try to get some traction after their rebuild. Binnington has a better resume than Markstrom, in terms of playing in big games and winning, but it’s hard to imagine the Devils moving out one inconsistent veteran for another. That being said, the Devils’ goaltending has been inconsistent, and given that the team has struggled to find stability in net, they may be open to making a change for the sake of making a change.
Lastly, the Sharks are trying to move beyond their rebuild and took some small strides this year, competing for a playoff spot but ultimately falling short. The Sharks have Yaroslav Askarov, whom they hope will be their goalie of the future, but last year showed the team that he wasn’t ready to be a full-time NHL starter. The Sharks have a capable backup in Alex Nedeljkovic, whom they re-signed to a two-year, $6MM deal. The jury is still out on Askarov, but at the moment he simply needs NHL reps behind a competent defense to further develop. The Sharks appear set to go hunting for defensemen this summer, which should be exactly what the doctor ordered for Askarov. Given the Sharks’ depth at the position in the NHL, acquiring Binnington makes little sense unless Askarov struggles to start the season and San Jose looks like a team that could challenge for a playoff spot. If that were to happen, it would make sense for the Sharks to look for an in-season upgrade, which is where Binnington could be an option given his contract status and capabilities, but for now it doesn’t make sense for San Jose.
One last option for St. Louis is to wait until the season starts to find out which contending team has a goaltender injury to start the year, or which team is unhappy with their goaltending and looking for an upgrade. Last season, the Pittsburgh Penguins entered the year with Jarry as their starter, and after less than two months of above-average play, they were able to trade him for a massive haul to the Edmonton Oilers. They did this despite the fact that Jarry had been on waivers less than a year prior, but Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas was fortunate to find a team desperate enough to take Jarry off his hands. A similar play could be the Blues’ best option for Binnington if they can’t find reasonable trade offers in the summer.