Blues’ Binnington & Hofer the NHL’s Next Great Goalie Tandem

The St. Louis Blues are known for having many great goaltending tandems, such as Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak, Elliott and Jake Allen, Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante, and Ville Husso and Binnington (for those two brief seasons in 2020-21, and 2021-22). However, there is much to unpack with the current tandem, so let’s look at why it could be big next season.

Despite Being Outshot, Both Goalies Were Strong

This season, the Blues are ranked within the top 10 teams for most shots against per game (32.3), and it is impressive how much the two have progressed together, even though their team hasn’t been in front of the net enough to help ease the pressure. For starters, Binnington is a top-10 goaltender in the NHL (National Hockey League) right now, and it looks like he will stay there by the end of the regular season. He also has a save percentage (SV%) that is above .900 (.913), a goals-against-average (GAA) that is a little less than three goals a game (2.82), has three shutouts, and his record is 27-19-4. On the other hand, Hofer, despite having a less appealing record of 13-12-0 through 25 games, has been able to have a .915 SV%, a 2.74 GAA, and a shutout.

As much as Binnington looks like the better option winning-wise, I think the two can be very good together now that they’ve had two seasons to build good chemistry and an entire season with just the two as the only goalies on the roster. With that said, it will build up their bond even more, and we shouldn’t expect Hofer, the young goaltender he is, to thrive quickly. However, the good thing about Hofer being 23 years old is that he will have longevity on the roster if he improves and hopefully doesn’t suffer a bad injury. With Binnington entering his 30s, there is a lot left for both goalies to learn and time to build a strong connection.

Both Are Build Within the Blues System

Unlike most good tandems in the league, this one is built from players drafted by the Blues and developed from the bottom up. It has created a system in which both goalies can relate to each other and make a bond, just like we’ve seen with the top goaltending tandem of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman on the Boston Bruins right now. The difference between Binnington and Hofer is that the Blues organization drafted both of them, whereas Ullmark was signed, and Swayman was the only draft pick for the Bruins in that tandem. Still, they roughly carry the same age difference that Ullmark and Swayman carry, so there’s a lot that one of them can learn from the other.

But when looking at the experiences within Binnington and Hofer compared to Ullmark and Swayman, Binnington has a Stanley Cup and experienced how hard it is to go deep into the playoffs in the earlier part of his career, something none of the goaltenders on the Bruins tandem have ever experienced. Binnington has come a long way from being the goaltender he once was, and sadly, we can’t say he’s the same goaltender he was when the Blues won the Stanley Cup. However, he still has a lot of hockey left in the tank; after all, he’s only 30, not 35, so I’d give him around three to five years until we see a significant decline in his game, but I could be wrong. As for Hofer, he’s worked hard coming up from the AHL (American Hockey League) becoming an All-Star in that league as well as a gold medalist and best goaltender in the 2020 World Junior Hockey Championship for Canada.

What Is Next for the Blues Tandem?

As promising as this tandem looks for next season they could go south if Blues general manager Doug Armstrong doesn’t make the right moves this offseason. The Blues’ number one issue would have to be goals against and goals for, the Blues are giving up more goals than they are scoring. This season the Blues have given up 225 goals as opposed to the 212 goals they scored. All of this puts more pressure on Binnington and Hofer to close out the game and prevent any high-scoring losses. The sooner goal-scoring is added to the roster, the sooner this team can get on their feet and become a serious playoff contender with two solid goaltenders to help them for the next five to 10 years.