As rookie goaltender Ville Husso once again allowed a goal before you could crack open a Bud Light and the Blues floundered a late comeback, Blues Twitter was rampant. Another painful and potentially vital loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, and they didn’t even need Alex Pietrangelo to sweep St. Louis-but my takeaway was people asking for Binnington’s presence. That’s because even when he’s not at his best, just his presence on the ice leaves an impact on the game and his teammates. That’s the definition of a starting goaltender.

The night before against Vegas, Binnington wasn’t at his sharpest, allowing five goals on 40 shots and coming away with the same save percentage as Husso would a day later. But when you are the #1 goaltender, and someone who helped the team win their first Stanley Cup, an indelible trust starts to take shape.

The Blues were wise to lock in Binnington, who is only 27 years old and just tasted the prime of his career, to a six-year extension. Instead of waiting another year to decide his fate in net with the Blues,  Primary Owner Tom Stillman and General Manager Doug Armstrong gave the man what he wanted: insurance and the “G” patch on his jersey, signifying that he is the last man standing on that sheet of ice. The guy who will start at least 60 games in a regular season schedule. The one who can ultimately decide a team’s fate.

Six years for $36 million is the epitome of mensch, which is a Jewish-go-to word for someone who shows integrity-or at least that’s what Jordan Palmer, the digital content director here at STL Jewish Light, told me. For a otherworldly confident fella, Binnington could have easily flirted with greed. He could have held out or asked for more money, making the upcoming salary cap issues facing Armstrong and Stillman even more grueling. Following this season, the Blues may have to flip a coin between re-signing Jaden Schwartz and Mike Hoffman (I’d keep Schwartzie). Adding Binnington drama would have boiled things over.

Now the Blues have their definitive ace in net for the next six seasons after this one, which would take Binnington nearly into his mid-30’s.

What people have to remember is that he is just getting started in the NHL, and his sophomore season was better than you think. His debut was just back in 2018, and there was the crazy season that 2020 basically choked out. Binnington was 30-13 with a 2.56 goals-against-average (the average NHL GAA was 2.82 last year) and 91.2% save percentage. He added three shutouts as well.

This year has been a troubling season for Binnington, who enters tonight’s game with a 2.81 GAA and 90.8 save percentage, both below average across the league. But the season isn’t over just yet, and we all know he can be a beast in the playoffs. Should I recall the insane save in Game 7 against Boston? For a guy who doesn’t get nervous, he really makes fans seem that way.

Here’s something: Binnington hasn’t experienced an ordinary full-length season as the starter yet. His numbers are magazine cutouts at this moment, pieces of work strung together. But my takeaway, from the stats to the good old idea of watching him play for the past two years, is that he will only get better. We haven’t seen the best of him just yet.

I’m not a hockey expert (semi-retired from writing about it basically), but I have watched enough goaltenders pass through this town to know if one is truly solid. When it comes to age, cost and ability, you can’t find a better fit for the Blues right now than Binnington. If they don’t sign him right now, thus starting an unnecessary period of awkwardness between the two parties, who else should they get for that price? Come on, bring on the candidates, along with the assurance that they can be better than Binnington.

There are none. This team may need a more suitable backup if Husso keeps letting in goals before Chris Kerber clears his throat.

After all, Binnington has blood, sweat, and tears already located here, among the fanbase and organization’s minor league system. The guy who the Blues lent like a pair of sneakers to Boston would go on to help take the Bruins down, making Brad Marchand cry in the process. He is the guy who went after Evander Kane and Devan Dubnyk just because he felt like it, and it also fired his team up. There’s a ruthless edge to Binnington’s personality and talent that will only enrich as he approaches his 30’s. The guy made Justin Bieber hire four hockey trainers to get set up for a charity showdown that never happened.

He’s just getting started. I’d put a bet down he brings this town another summer with Stanley before he takes off the blue and gold threads. The young talent on this team is explosive and nearing a time when they consume all four skating lines during a game. Armstrong needed to put pen to Binnington’s St. Louis legacy before any other real decision could be made.

What’s one of the potential reasons Pietrangelo wasn’t given the extra money to stay-and I believe he wanted to-was that a goaltender needed to be locked in. Binnington’s extension will now set the team off on a route to create the next six years of Blues hockey.

All thanks to a young man showing his inner mensch, something that professional athletes should show more often.