Edited Nov. 8, 2023 at 10:56 p.m.
Quoting: exo2769
No, I get this year he has indeed playing better. I think we can both agree it's still early in the season. It's November 8th. I also agree there should be context to stats and that stats are really just a tool (of many) to evaluate a player. Another STL example that was (for good reason) pointed out to me. Krug had a statically awful season last year, but wasn't he on the ice for something like 17-20 empty net goals? That'll destroy a +/- without really deserving it. I get that, BUT if you're telling me his only crap season was 21/22...then he's a career .907 and that stinks. You shouldn't be able to start in the NHL with a .907 SV%. At some point there needs to be some production, no? At some point there need to be something that says...this guy's good!
Lot to unpack here, let me try to keep it in order...
- No, I meant he was far better in 22-23 than he was in 21-22. He's started well this season, but he always starts well. I'll hold off calling it a full blown renaissance just yet.
- Yes, stats can provide context, but they also require a lot of context. Per your example, yes, Krug was "only" a -9 at 5v5. However, he fully deserved the heat he got for defense because he was so very often the one who made the mistake that led to a goal.
A better example would be Kyrou, who also was -36 and also on for 17 ENGs. He takes too much heat for his defensive play, at least after the first 20-30 games of last season. It's nowhere near as tragic as people want to make it out to be, and actually he's been very responsible this season. Kinda shockingly so. Of course that does not stop people who never actually watch him play from repeating the old line, which by now is almost a year out of date.
As for Binnington last season, did you know that he had teammates kick/glove/bat/deflect 30 goals past him?
Thir-ty. That's exactly a half goal per start and accounted for a .015 subtraction from his save %, which is insane. And did you know that Binnington faced the second closest average shot distance among all clear starters/1As? That probably is because of the staggering amount of back-door tap-ins and horrid turnovers leading to sudden odd man rushes the skaters were allowing through most of the season. His average was the closest until the very last game or two, but the Blues suddenly remembered how to (generally) play the right way down the stretch.
I mean, people can assume I'm just being a homer, but everyone who says that also admits they never watch the Blues play (or at least very rarely). Most of the local pro media will say basically the same stuff I said if they didn't already. A couple of them called him their player of the season. Aside from a handful of stinkers, he was very much a victim of the team in front of him last season. And honestly, it's a miracle he was a very solid citizen behavior-wise and team backing-wise. He never pulled one of his pointless freakouts (which only actually happen about 15% of the time people moan that "he flipped out because he allowed goals") and he never moaned about his teammates. Sorry, but cold-cocking someone who intentionally stepped on the back of your leg absolutely does not count as "antics" - this ain't field hockey. That's just FA&FO.
Frankly, he might be the most pearl clutched player leaguewide since the Cup win. And like 97% of hockey fans don't actually know what they're on about (I'm including a not insignificant portion of dependably ignorant Blues fans in this, BTW).
- Also, just FYI for needed context, the current average NHL save percentage is .899, same as last season.In fact, Binnington has yet to play a season where the leaguewide sv pct. was above .905.
So yeah, while so many people want to shriek how he's awful and terrible and the worst and how he hasn't been any good since the Cup win (one of the most blatantly de-bunkable lies on this site), a .907 career sv. pct. is easily above NHL average. Like it's not even close when you're talking about 230 starts across six seasons in total as one thing.
- Any way you slice it, the main point is stats usually cannot paint the whole picture of a very complex sport accurately, especially when you go into all the on-ice (six players factor into this, and not equally) and xG stuff (which are all based on a very subjective, flawed stat AND almost never are individual stats.
For me, by season, I would give Binnington these grades for the regular season only:
18-19: A+ (duh)
19-20: A-
20-21: C+ (this is the one season where his stats painted a rosier picture than his play actually did... he was very inconsistent)
21-22: D (I only spare him from an F because he started and ended the season so well, in between was a nightmare)
22-23: a strong B (some local scribes and pundits have given him B+ or even A-, just FYI... I certainly won't go quite that far, but he was consistently stealing points/keeping them in games they had no business being in with insane saves)
And in case you're wondering, that averages out to exactly a B.