30 Teams in 30 Days: St. Louis Blues

Now batting, the St. Louis Blues, with their single OHL prospect!

Jordan Binnington - Owen Sound Attack
The Blues have to be encouraged by the fact that the Attack gave Binnington more starts than overager Scott Stajcer this year. They also started him in game one of the playoffs, again this suggests their confidence in him. However, I'm not really sure Binnington progressed a whole lot this past year. He was still prone to some bad goals, and still battled consistency. He'd play a couple of great games, then a couple of below average ones. He's a big guy, and he's very athletic, but his rebound control and positioning are still works in progress. This coming season, he'll be the starter and Owen Sound should contend for home ice advantage in the first round. The Attack brought in a fairly talented younger goalie named Brandon Hope to help spell Binnington when he needs it. However, if he doesn't step up his game, he could find himself losing starts just the way Stajcer did to Binnington the past few years. I do happen to think he'll really emerge as a front line OHL starter this year though.

*of note, the St. Louis Blues elected not to sign defenseman Brock Beukeboom, whom they acquired from Tampa Bay in the Eric Brewer trade.