What Will The St. Louis Blues Do With Ville Husso?
The St. Louis Blues are getting solid goaltending this season from Ville Husso. He has outplayed a struggling Jordan Binnington to seize the starter's job with a record of 22-6-5, a 2.38 goals-against average and a save percentage of .924.
Eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, the 27-year-old Husso will be in line for a significant raise over his current annual cap hit of $750,000. Whether he gets that from the Blues, however, is another matter.
Cap Friendly indicates the Blues have $71.6 million invested in 17 active players for 2022-23. With Binnington earning $6-million annually through 2026-27, general manager Doug Armstrong could be reluctant to invest too much on a lengthy deal for Husso.
Prior to last month's trade deadline, Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli reported sources claimed Armstrong contacted clubs that were seeking help between the pipes by offering up Binnington. However, there was little interest in his contract, which also has a full no-trade clause.
Husso could receive as much as $4-million annually in this summer's free-agent market. Nevertheless, he'd be a more affordable option for clubs that lose out in the bidding for Colorado's Darcy Kuemper, Toronto's Jack Campbell or Minnesota's Marc-Andre Fleury.
One of those clubs could be the Edmonton Oilers. Earlier this month, the Edmonton Journal's Jim Matheson speculated the Oilers will probably be among Husso's suitors if he hits the open market in July. The Athletic's John Vogl included Husso among the Buffalo Sabres' potential offseason goalie targets.
They won't be the only clubs pursuing Husso this summer. The New Jersey Devils and Chicago Blackhawks could also come calling.
