St. Louis Blues sign goalie Jordan Binnington to six-year, $36 million extension
The 27-year-old goalie agreed to a six-year contract extension worth $36 million on Thursday. His average annual contract value of $6 million is a jump up from his current AAV of $4.4 million.
His cap hit and contract term equal that of Jacob Markstrom, who signed with the Calgary Flames last season as the most coveted free-agent goalie.
Additional terms include trade protection throughout the contract and a full no-trade clause for the first three years.
“I’m grateful and I’m very proud,” Binnington said on a video call Thursday night. “We have a special team here, a great core, veteran group and young talent and all the above. I’m happy it worked out.”
Binnington, who was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, is in his third season with the Blues and has posted a 63-24-11 record, a 2.38 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage and eight shutouts across 102 regular-season games. This season, he’s 9-6-3 in 19 starts for St. Louis, with a .908 save percentage and a 2.69 goals-against average.
“I like to set short-term goals that kind of in the end hopefully turn into big goals,” he said. “I want to make the city proud. I want to continue to make my family proud and just keep pushing myself to be the best athlete and person I can be. That’s what keeps you alive.”
The Richmond Hill, Ontario, native was a rookie sensation in 2018-19, helping to lead the Blues from last place in their conference to their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. He went 24-5-1 in the regular season and won Game 7 of the Final on the road in Boston.
“The resume was getting clearer and clearer,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. “Jordan, obviously, is a top goalie in the league. He’s got the pedigree of a champion.”
It was after that Cup run that Binnington signed a two-year, $8.8 million bridge deal with the Blues. The team wanted to be sure that he was a long-term solution in goal and not just a one-season wonder. Binnington wanted to prove himself worthy of a long-term commitment.
The bridge led to a six-year contract extension between the goalie and his team, running through 2026-27.
“I’m not looking to kind of crush the bank,” Binnington said. “It’s not all about money to me. At the end of the day, I think what you look back on and you feel in your heart is the memories made and competing and being successful and going through tough times and getting out of them and being there for your teammates. We’ve got a good, respected group here, and I’m excited.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.