2022 Ville Husso is nowhere near 2019 Jordan Binnington

I don’t always look at what St. Louis Blues fans have to say on social media. But,when I do, I usually see things that I don’t agree with. Take, for example, the opinion that 2022 Ville Husso is the brand-new version of 2019 Jordan Binnington.

I’m not discrediting Husso’s amazing starts. I’m happy for him, just like most other people are, but he has had his struggles. Most recently, the Carolina Hurricanes humbled him in his home start on Saturday, March 26, 2022. The Blues got blown out 7-2 at the Enterprise Center. He allowed five goals on 26 shots in a losing effort.

While I’m going to applaud if Husso plays well, I’m not going to be shouting his last name at home or in public. On Saturday, April 2nd, I asked my Twitter followers to pick one Blues goalie.

As you can see, most of my followers (and perhaps non-followers) picked the “2019 Jordan Binnington” option.

Around that time, a Blues fan wrote me: “[Binnington] was much better. The numbers prove it by far. It's not even close. People need to think before they make statements that Husso is on par or better than the Binnington of 2019.”

As always, I welcome non-Blues fans to join in on the conversation. A San Jose Sharks fan wrote me: “This wouldn’t even be a conversation if 2022 Binnington played like 2019 Binnington. But right now, Husso is the better goalie. I also think 2022 Husso is gonna be every bit of a fluke as 2019 Binnington.”

I believe that the 2019 Binnington is better than the 2022 Husso. However, I took this Sharks fan’s thoughts into consideration because Binnington hasn’t really lived up to his — and maybe most people’s — expectations in the 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Just three years ago, Binnington was the man of the hour in St. Louis. He had zero postseason experience, but he led the Blues to their first-ever Stanley Cup. Since then, he has looked sort of like an average goalie when he wasn’t having red-hot starts in goal.

Binnington hasn’t played much high-quality hockey lately...until April 9th. He made 30 saves on 31 shots in the Blues’ 6-1 blowout over the New York Islanders at the Enterprise Center on Saturday night.