We have never been more confident in saying this...

Blues Digest
1 follower
Aug 27, 2026
AI Generated·May contain errors
We have never been more confident in this one position for the St. Louis Blues as a recent
report showed the bright future between the pipes with the St. Louis Blues not only having
Jordan Bennington and Joel Hofer despite the contract extensions coming up on the two we're
gonna dive into exactly why the NHL is terrified of these young prospects making a name for
themselves around the NHL showing the bright future of the St. Louis Blues between the pipes
we're gonna break down everything you need to know on this report the young players and
everything in between that you're not going to want to miss out on but before we get into that
make sure to go down hit that free subscribe button if you want to stay up to date on
everything to do around the St. Louis Blues and hey if you're watching on Facebook hit the free
follow button it does the exact same thing and we'll keep you up to date going into the season
which is vastly approaching us but Darius let's just dive straight into it today now before we
get into the updates on the goaltenders we do want to dive into an update that has been circling
around on social media and a statement coming from Doug Armstrong of course we've seen the
reports coming out that at ASU a player did collapse was hospitalized and of course went
into a coma and it is devastating and sad Doug Armstrong coming out with the report as this is
a player within the Blues organization and Doug said the entire Blues organization is keeping
Matthew Mayik close to our hearts as we pray for the comfort and recovery while he continues to
Arizona his agent put out information on the statement and none of these reports came out
until the family made it clear that they were okay with it but we did just want to give an
update on this and Darius it's absolutely devastating a young player take aside the
fact that he's a part of the Blues organization everyone keep them in your prayers and the
updates will continue on with this as he recovers and progresses but we did want to give you guys
an update just on the entire situation as it has been circulating on social media plus the statement
from Doug Armstrong but Darius going into this of course we get another report coming through
from Mike Meyer friend of the show doing an incredible job go check him out we're gonna
put this full article down below where he speaks on the goaltending pipeline on how it's heating up
around the St. Louis Blues now of course the goaltenders that everyone knows Jordan Binnington
a Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues we love saying that still he's a goalie that's
still going to be here of course there's a lot of rumors popping up on Jordan Binnington we still
have Joel Hofer the soon-to-be Hall of Famer when he finishes his career Darius what is your
thoughts on these goaltenders and of course the contracts coming up very soon for the two
before we dive into the depth and some very bright future stars coming through between the pipes
yeah well we'll start with the first two goaltenders that will obviously be playing
for the Blues this year and it's pretty ironic Mark you know a couple days ago off camera we
were talking about how there's a situation brewing here with the goaltending position
with the Blues there's a lot to like in terms of the depth of the goaltender position but
also there's a massive decision that's going to be made this season it's going to be made this
season and ironically enough you know Mike posted this article and he's talking about it as well and
you know to me the Hall of Famer he won the net at the end of last year right or you know to end
the season at least but at some point last year he did win the net over Jordan Binnington and
Binnington did not have the greatest season he had a pretty good Olympic showing I thought he was
fine with Team Canada but you know you always know that he can come up with big saves but
Hofer definitely had like or uh genuinely excuse me had good numbers last season like he actually
did look really good and especially the end last season did look really good so I'm excited first
of all to see what he is going to do heading into this year I don't know if he's just going to be
gifted the net again like I think everyone's going to come into camp everybody the entire roster is
going to come into camp and have to win spots obviously there's a little bit more leaning in
his favor because of the way he finished last year there's a lot more green in those analytics
too for him rather than Binnington especially you know a lot of the games dropped earlier in
the season due not due to Binnington but with him in the net and it was a tough go but I think
there's a big decision brewing here if you look at their contracts they were signed strategically
so they expire at the same time now Hofer is an RFA Binnington is obviously a UFA I think at this
point Mark you can't move forward this might be a bit of a hot take I don't know let me know how
I know he's had some big moments he's won a Stanley Cup here I don't know if you can sign
him to a contract extension especially if he wants a raise or anywhere in the you know the
same amount and I think it might be time to move off of him because Hofer is a little bit younger
you have some great goaltending prospects that are coming up Hofer has proven that I think that
he can be a starting goaltender he almost played 50 games last year and Binnington to me I think
you might have to trade him before the trade deadline because I don't know if you can sign
him to that contract and I don't know if you want to lose him for nothing and I feel like he's a
name that over the last couple seasons has been linked to many teams including the Edmonton Oilers
so I think you try and work with this player over the course of this season to find a trade
destination for him before the trade deadline and get that done so you don't lose him for nothing
you get some type of asset in return because I have to be honest Mark I don't know if Binnington
is long for this Blues team I don't know if he's returning next year and it's a business at the
end of the day hockey is tough right like thank you for your service thank you for winning the
Stanley Cup but uh that that might be it for him as a blue and I think it's pretty interesting
because like I said they do have some great depth coming up through the pipeline which we'll get to
in a second if they really want to lean into this young youth movement I do think Jordan Binnington's
days are starting to get numbered but I do wonder looking at the goaltenders of course this is the
team that wants to get back in the hunt they nearly snuck into the playoffs last year if Jordan
Binnington has a bounce back this could legitimately turn into a the best 1a1b tandem in the entire NHL
I know we said that to start last season but genuinely this is a team that added on the back
end a team that got more responsible when you're looking at the guys of course Conor McMichael a
great defensive forward or at least above average defensive forward you still have a lot of young
guys continuing to grow a healthy season with of course Phillip Orver taking the extra step you
brought in Brandon Carlo another shutdown defenseman this is a team that I do think but fans
let us know your thoughts in the comments on the goalies because of course it's going to get
interesting between these two but Darius it's not where it ends because looking even the AHL Steve
Vaught is going to have two great goaltenders that showed out of course the last season as well you
brought in Romanov from the San Jose Sharks system you got him in on a two-year deal you also have
Will Cranley still with the team these are two young goaltenders and of course are they NHL
ready it's yet to be seen of course with Romanov he did spend some time with the San Jose Sharks
playing about 10 games but the biggest thing is a rebuilding team that wanted to get some young
goaltenders in but with Cranley another great goaltender coming through a sixth round pick
over exceeding what you expect from a late drafted goaltender 915 save percentage in the ECHL of
course a sub 900 when it came to the AHL but still very young 24 a lot of people like the right
goaltenders off because they hit 24 25 years old and haven't shown a lot but Darius some of these
guys don't really show their potential until 27 20 and push straight into the 30s you look at some
guys Marc-Andre Fleury what's good into his 30s Serge Brabanti one cup in his 30s as well a lot
of these guys tend to peak in their late 20s what is your thoughts on the AHL goaltenders before we
get into of course the two hidden gems I think you're right goaltenders peak between you know
25 and 28 I think right if you after that around 28 29 years old if you still are in the same
position ECHL whatever it is then you just kind of are what you are I think at that point but
don't count a goaltender out if he's still 24 years old 23 years old 22 years old I still think
there's a lot to like here from a guy like Will Cranley I do still think with the entire organization
while there's still a lot to like obviously losing Colton Ellis last year stunk that was a tough
loss to the Buffalo Sabres but I still think there's a lot to like here from Will Cranley
I think he could be a goaltender in the AHL for this team and Georgi Romanov is fantastic he had
a great end of last season as well like looked super super solid does have NHL experience too
like I think they're in good hands here as well the biggest question is how much can you play
and at what level consistently right like that's a big question for me too but he showed last year
like great in the AHL I thought he looked good in the playoffs too like it can't be understated what
this organization did with the AHL squad last season they were one of the worst teams I think
they were going to be at the bottom three in the league in terms of pace and what we were covering
throughout the year they ended up in the playoffs they pulled off one of the biggest upsets in AHL
playoff history and that was on the back of some of the goaltending as well and some great
performances from some young players there as well so and Steve Vaught of course can't leave
him out have to mention Steve Vaught too but Romanov looks fantastic and then you have you
know Harnstedt who's coming up through the pipeline as well who we've been raving about
we've been talking about had a great world juniors last year where you know we were kind of talking
about the dynamic for team Sweden in the goaltending position was interesting was he going to get every
start and he was lights out they they really gave him the ball and he was fantastic right and I think
that was a question for myself heading into that tournament so he looks really good to give this
guy for sure some time let's bump the brakes on him because I think he's going to be awesome
but let's not you know put too much pressure on him or the expectations too high just yet so
there's a lot to like a lot of goaltenders that they've traded for as well and I think the biggest
thing is it's an underrated position when you're looking at the pipeline of this team do they have
that huge name that everyone's fighting over like Dobish over in the Montreal Canadiens
no but I do truly think these guys are going to be very serviceable players coming through I mean
even looking at some players you acquired from the New York Islanders in the Shen trade as well
but this is a team that I genuinely I would start putting my investments in Harnstem a young
goaltender in Sweden that dominated like you said at every single level I mean looking at you seen
in the world juniors you seen in the Swedish one league versus legitimate XMHL players current
players pushing to make the position this is such a good goaltender for fans let us know your thoughts
down in the comments about the goaltender position is there someone that we didn't even bring up that
you're excited for what do you think happens with Jordan Bennington and Joel Hofer there's so much
talk around the Blues and Darius hey we're less than 20 days away till training camp opening so
this is going to be a fun time of year you guys want to stay up to date hit that free subscribe
button I've been your host Mark with my co-host Darius and take care Blues fans.
