Quoting: Ritzy
I've watched him about as often as most posters on here do when they comment on/determine value for another team's players, next to never. The only thing I can go off of right now is his numbers, and they're terrible. I'm not saying he's a terrible goalie, but right now his numbers are terrible.
Like I said, I personally prefer Murray because his contract has one year left at less AAV than Binner and his 4 remaining years. That's cap space TOR will need.
Well, here's a few other fun numbers for ya to start rounding out the picture:
- Only Gibson has faced a closer average shot distance at 5v5 than Binnington. Probably has something to do with all the breakaways and odd man rushes he's been asked to deal with (3rd in the league in odd mans faced last time I checked).
- Of course, that doesn't even include the
19 goals gloved/batted/kicked/deflected past Binnington by a teammate this season (or one every 2.5 starts), because those weren't shots. In case anyone missed it, that's a **** ton of goals to count against your numbers without also counting as a SOG.
- It does of course count the number of unmarked backdoor tap-ins that have been scored against him. I do not have an official count for that, but it's at least matching that 19 total from above. Possibly more, though. It's been an epidemic.
- Naturally, numbers don't count things like puck play, poke checks and other stick work. The Blues system demands puck play from its goalies. Without Binnington's elite puck play, the Blues would be last in the league. Simple as.
The guy has not been perfect, he's not been an all star, but he's been waaaaaaaay better than just a look at the numbers indicates. He's been keeping them in games while the team bumbles around him almost every night.