Jordan Binnington
Rookie goaltender who led the Blues to the 2019 Stanley Cup.
Last updated
Jordan Binnington is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is notable for leading the Blues from last place in the league to winning the 2019 Stanley Cup championship as a rookie, becoming the first NHL rookie goaltender to earn 16 wins in a single postseason.
Lore & Background
Binnington played major junior hockey for the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). He was part of a three-goalie system that won the OHL championship in 2011, playing and winning the final two games of the J. Ross Robertson Cup final when the team faced elimination. At the 2011 Memorial Cup, he recorded the tournament's only shutout and was awarded the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as best goaltender. In the 2012–13 season, he became the winningest goalie in Attack franchise history and earned the Jim Rutherford Trophy as OHL goaltender of the year.
Selected by the Blues in the third round of the 2011 NHL entry draft, Binnington spent seven seasons in the minor leagues, playing for the Peoria Rivermen, Kalamazoo Wings, Chicago Wolves, and Providence Bruins. He made his NHL on-ice debut in 2016 as a relief goaltender. In December 2018, he was called up by the Blues and within a month became their starting goaltender. His play helped the team improve from last place in the league to winning the 2019 Stanley Cup championship.
Major Junior Dominance with Owen Sound
Jordan Binnington's journey in Canadian junior hockey with the Owen Sound Attack was nothing short of extraordinary. After being selected in the second round of the 2009 OHL Priority Draft, he spent three seasons developing behind veteran Scott Stajcer before seizing the starting role. His 2010-11 campaign saw him post a 27-12-5 record with a .899 save percentage, and he was named to the CHL Top Prospects Game.
In the 2011 playoffs, Binnington was part of a three-goalie rotation that carried the Attack to the J. Ross Robertson Cup final, where he played and won the final two games against elimination. At the 2011 Memorial Cup, he recorded the tournament's only shutout, finished with a 1.42 GAA and .951 save percentage, and was awarded the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the event's best goaltender. By 2012-13, with Stajcer gone, Binnington became the undisputed starter, earning the Jim Rutherford Trophy as the OHL's top goalie with a .932 save percentage and 2.17 GAA, while also sharing the Dave Pinkney Trophy for allowing the league's fewest goals at 165.
The Long Professional Road
Binnington's path from major junior to the NHL was far from immediate. After signing a three-year entry-level deal with the St. Louis Blues in May 2012, he spent seven seasons grinding through the minor leagues. His professional journey began with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL in 2013-14, where he posted a 23-13-3 record and a .922 save percentage, earning ECHL Rookie of the Month for December.
He then spent three seasons with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, serving as a key member of their goaltending tandem alongside Matt Climie. During those years, he made two emergency call-ups to St. Louis—first in November 2014 after Brian Elliott's injury, where he did not appear in a game, and then in January 2016 following Jake Allen's injury, when he finally made his NHL in-game debut on January 14. His AHL numbers were consistently solid, with save percentages hovering around .91 to .92 and GAA in the low 2s, proving he was ready even as the NHL door remained closed.
The 2018-19 Stanley Cup Miracle
In December 2018, Binnington received the call-up that would define his career. Within just one month, he had transformed from a depth option into the St. Louis Blues' starting goaltender. The impact was seismic: the Blues, who had finished in last place in the league the previous season, surged forward and ultimately captured the 2019 Stanley Cup championship.
Binnington's postseason performance was historic—he became the first rookie goaltender in NHL history to earn 16 wins in a single playoff run, the maximum number of games possible in a best-of-seven format (excluding the 2020 postseason, which featured play-in games that allowed Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy to record 18 wins). For a player who had spent seven years in the minors and was drafted 88th overall, this run represented the ultimate vindication of his patience and skill. The journey from a backup in Owen Sound to lifting the Stanley Cup as a rookie starter compressed what is typically a decade-long arc into a single, breathtaking season.
Franchise Records and Draft Legacy
Binnington's career has been stitched together by a remarkable thread of franchise-firsts on both sides of the Atlantic. He holds the all-time wins record for two separate organizations: the St. Louis Blues in the NHL and the Owen Sound Attack in the OHL. At Owen Sound, he broke through the franchise's all-time wins barrier on November 17, 2012, collecting his 66th victory in a 4-0 blanking of the Kitchener Rangers, and then strung together three straight shutouts in the following games.
On the NHL side, his 2018-19 campaign etched his name into Blues lore. His draft narrative adds another dimension to the story: the NHL Central Scouting Bureau's final ranking had him as the OHL's top eligible netminder heading into the 2011 entry draft, yet no team reached for him before the third round, where St. Louis took him at 88th overall. That late selection, paired with seven patient seasons in the minors, makes his eventual ascent to franchise cornerstone all the more extraordinary.
Reader's Guide
Jordan Binnington's significance lies in his improbable rise from minor-league obscurity to leading the St. Louis Blues to the 2019 Stanley Cup championship. After seven seasons in the minors and a brief NHL debut in 2016, he was called up in December 2018 and became the Blues' starting goaltender within a month. His performance transformed a team that had the worst record in the NHL on January 2, 2019, into Stanley Cup champions.
He set a record as the first NHL rookie goaltender to earn 16 wins in a single postseason, the maximum possible at that time. Binnington is the all-time wins leader for two franchises: the St. Louis Blues and the Owen Sound Attack. His career path—from OHL standout, through years in the ECHL and AHL, to Stanley Cup champion—exemplifies perseverance and late-blooming success in professional hockey.
Career statistics and honours
Medals
- Silver Ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament
- Gold 2025 4 Nations Face-Off
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Canada | WJC | 4th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 4 | 0 | 6.82 | .871 |
| 2024 | Canada | WC | 4th | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 492 | 23 | 0 | 2.81 | .885 |
| 2025 | Canada | 4NF | Gold | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 253 | 10 | 0 | 2.37 | .907 |
| 2025 | Canada | WC | 5th | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 239 | 5 | 2 | 1.25 | .944 |
| 2026 | Canada | OG | Silver | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 303 | 9 | 1 | 1.78 | .917 |
| Junior totals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 4 | 0 | 6.82 | .871 | |||
| Senior totals | 21 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 1,287 | 47 | 3 | 2.19 | .912 | |||
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| OHL | ||
| Hap Emms Memorial Trophy | 2011 | |
| Memorial Cup All-Star Team | 2011 | |
| Dave Pinkney Trophy | 2013 | |
| OHL First Team All-Star | 2013 | |
| OHL Goaltender of the Year | 2013 | |
| AHL | ||
| AHL All-Star Game | 2018 | |
| NHL | ||
| NHL Rookie of the Month | February 2019, March 2019 | |
| Stanley Cup champion | 2019 | |
| NHL All-Rookie Team | 2019 | |
| NHL All-Star Game | 2020 | |
Tables copied from the source article, totals included as the source gives them: Wikipedia: Jordan Binnington (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wide tables scroll sideways.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Jordan Binnington?
He's a Canadian goaltender who plays for the St. Louis Blues in the NHL. Born in the Toronto, Ontario area in 1993, he became a household name almost overnight when he carried the Blues to a Stanley Cup title as a first-year pro in 2019.
When did Binnington make his NHL debut?
His first appearance came on January 14, 2016, in a relief situation against the Carolina Hurricanes. He had spent several years developing in the minors before finally getting that call-up.
More in St. Louis Blues Players
Test yourself
Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.
Answers checked against the source article
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Jordan Binnington (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Statistics, medals and awards: the tables of the source article.
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced