St. Louis Blues May Deal A Goaltender Sooner Than Expected
The St. Louis Blues knew they were going to have to make some decisions in their goaltending department soon. Recent developments may have forced them to speed up the process.
They say you can never have enough talent. That was the thought process behind the St. Louis Blues extending the contracts of Jordan Binnington and Pheonix Copley while the team knew Ville Husso was going to become a North American pro.
While Husso is still a bit raw, the idea is that he might be the goaltender of the future. Of course, it remains to be seen if he can even play in the NHL, let alone unseat Jake Allen. Nevertheless, the idea among those that are high on Husso is that he could be a franchise netminder.
So, it was a tiny bit puzzling, even if expected, that the Blues brought back both of their minor league goaltenders from 2015-16. Neither one of them had covered themselves in glory last season, but the Blues still wanted to present both with an opportunity.
Then this season went into overdrive with oddities. The Chicago Wolves started out the season quite poorly and, unrelated, Husso was sent to the ECHL after the Blues came up with a “working partnership” with the Missouri Mavericks.
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Binnington and Copley have split time fairly evenly. Copley has the better statistics with a lower goals against average and a higher save percentage.
Even so, you still get the feeling like the Blues favor Binnington. Regardless, the team may be forced to decide earlier than they had anticipated.
Most thought that Husso would stay in the ECHL and get some seasoning. The league is a bit iffy, but it was still good enough to get a foreign player some good exposure to the North American style of play.
It was also figured the Blues would want to give the entire season to the combination of Copley and Binnington. St. Louis has both of them on one-year deals, so the idea would be to just let one walk and ride Husso and the other one in the AHL next season with Carter Hutton having one more year in the NHL.
That timetable has moved up with the exception of Hutton. The Blues could very well ride three AHL goaltenders, but it does not look like Husso is going back down.
The Wolves are riding a winning streak and Husso has seen plenty of action. After playing in only 13 games in the ECHL, Husso has already played in six, won five and won four in a row with a 5-1 record.
The reason Husso is in the AHL is up for debate. The Wolves did need to bring him up because Binnington was suspended after a fight.
However, the working relationship with the Mavericks seems to have soured. The Blues were rumored to be very unhappy with the lack of playing time for Husso.
The problem the Mavericks faced was this so-called relationship with the Blues but they were still the affiliate of the New York Islanders. You cannot serve two masters and it seemed the Mavs were honoring their affiliation first.
So, the Blues have kept Husso up with the Wolves. In six games, his goals against is well over a full goal less per game and his save percentage is a full point better.
The coaching is going to help. Playing for a team actually in partnership with your parent team and having a coach in Craig Berube who has turned the Wolves into a contender will help anyone.
That said, the Blues may be forced to make a deal sooner than thought. Sports is not fair, but it would not be fair to any of the goaltenders to keep three.
There has not been an ample amount of time to fully decide on Copley or Binnington, but that’s where the scouts come in. A decision must be made, especially if you have any thought of keeping Husso in the AHL.
That seems to be the way the team is leaning. They are all high on his play right now, especially Doug Armstrong.
“He looks big and athletic and very in control,” Armstrong said. “It’s not something we’re surprised of. The last two years in Finland, he was training to be a really good goaltender and hopefully for this organization he can keep it up.”
If it is me, I keep Copley and Husso. Copley put up better numbers in the preseason and has continued to do so in the AHL.
The flip side of that is, if you believe Husso is ready, you trade Copley since he could get a higher return. Maybe he gets a mid-round pick or a serviceable minor leaguer.
The bottom line is St. Louis has to make a decision and it should not wait until summer. That was the original plan, but at this point it doesn’t make sense to demote Husso again when there is no control at the ECHL level for the Blues.
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