Why Jordan Binnington's Four Nations success is good for the Blues

The streaky goaltender helped Canada capture the trophy and some of his own confidence.

Don’t bet against Jordan Binnington at the Garden in Boston. Just don’t do it.

Sports Illustrated

Thursday night, when the final whistle blew following Conor McDavid’s championship-winning goal, you would have thought the St. Louis Blues goaltender had won his second Stanley Cup by his reaction. It was as if the kid rush of victory swept over him for the first time. The often enigmatic, quietly intense NHL veteran doesn’t let his emotions show often, masking them under the bluntness of the ultimate goal: WIN!

That’s what he helped Canada do in order to hold off the pesky USA team. In a close game that never grew past a one-goal deficit for either team, Binnington held the line. With hockey’s most loyal fanbase up north watching every move, downfall or uprising, he didn’t allow the Americans to climb over the Crosby/McDavid wall. A pair of stunning saves in overtime gave the Edmonton Oiler stud the keys to be the hero, even if everyone who watched knew the real hero wore a mask.

A one-timer meant for the back of the net instead found Binnington’s shoulder instead. A second attempt later on to the other side of the net involved one of the goaltender’s patented lunging glove saves. Both were surefire goals. If you want to see them, check out the video in this NYT article. I’m not saying it wasn’t humanly possible for a goal to get past him, but it wasn’t happening last night. A USA skater could have picked up a Kohler cast iron sink and Binnington would have blocked it.

A fierce reminder that when the chips are down, Binnington stands up. Every time. He’s the equivalent of a Game 7 starter in baseball. A red zone quarterback maverick. When he calmly told a reporter years ago before his legend was carved into Stanley stone at the Garden that he doesn’t get nervous, hyperbole wasn’t attached to the answer. When others quiver or collapse, he hardens into steel between the pipes.

The Blues can only hope it translates back to the 2024-25 regular season schedule when games pick back up next week. If the Binnington gun remains hot when St. Louis returns to the ice, it’s only good things for the Blues and Doug Armstrong. While it may not mean a playoff appearance (they’re eight points back of the second wildcard spot), the effect could still have a positive effect.

They could string some wins together. If it leads to the first winning streak of the year, the goal will have been reached. Making the Blues more consistent is the goal, and Binnington could help steady the ship. Seeing him and Canadian defenseman Colton Parayko celebrate joyously Thursday night could happen after Blues’ games too. That is if people who wear the uniform can score more goals.

In an indirect way, the play of a goaltender can push some goal-scoring into fruition. A team is generally pushed by the performance and ability of their goalie. A few stops leads to a few breaks the other way. Confidence can be contagious. In other words, if he can make a couple of unbelievable stops and gift the team an extra chance or two, the scoring might rise a little.

If not, he could put up better numbers in order to bump his trade value. As he turns 32 in July and carries a hefty salary on a team that will miss the playoffs for the third straight season and leave them with one playoff series win in their last six seasons, a crossroads is approaching between the team and player. A steep honeymoon for a team that rode Binnington’s back to the promised land back in 2019 is reaching its conclusion.

Is Binnington exactly long for the Blues’ world? Probably not. He came into the Four Nations Tournament having coughed up five goals to the Chicago Blackhawks and looking rough in three of his last five games, and is aging himself out of being the guy a team pins a rebuild to. With his hot play in the tournament and an upswing in performance with St. Louis, though, there will be teams calling Armstrong.

He’s going to have to come to a realization that this guy could go win another Cup before he calls it a career, but it’s not happening in St. Louis. Whether it’s a few wins and trade possibilities (which brings STL a quality return), Binnington’s streaky play only means good things, but Armstrong has to pull the trigger. Will he? While a trade of Brayden Schenn wouldn’t be surprising, moving Binnington looks like more of a possibility.

Let’s face it. Outside of the past two weeks, he’s been a league average goaltender. His performance this season is who he is as a cumulative goaltender. Binnington has put together a 2.84 and 2.89 goals against average last year and this season. His career mark is 2.80. His career save percentage is about 88%. His last two years are .906 and .897. What he is right now and the last few seasons is what he is for the rest of his time, unless there’s a big game.

It’s not a surprise to see his performance hit a downturn as the team goes through a rebuild/retool/whatever. For an athlete who thrives on big moments, the team’s inability to score enough or win enough hasn’t provided many such moments. It hasn’t been high stakes around here for years.

When it comes to the “haters” out there who crap on Binnington, that’ll cool for now. It’s always revolved around his cool-as-a-cucumber persona and no frills approach. Other people don’t like that kind of confidence, so they wait for the downfall to shout and scream at them. Binnington’s performance means something to the Blues, and it could end up meaning something big for a contending team.

No matter what, the Four Nations reminded people of two things: Don’t bet against Binnington in Boston and don’t count him out in big games.