It hasn’t been nearly long enough to forget that Jordan Binnington was found money.
Where it was unflinching confidence that teetered often toward a mild arrogance while keying the St. Louis Blues’ miraculous turnaround season — which of course culminated in the franchise’s first Stanley Cup after a Game 7 victory over the Boston Bruins — this was still a netminder who was not long before that humiliatingly designated for an ECHL assignment. It was one which he would famously refuse, of course, resulting in his loan to another team’s farm system, just for the reps.
He was hardly the first choice when there was an immediate need for goaltending with the big club as it staggered toward the midpoint of last season.