Binnington, Hofer The Talk Of Blues Goaltending; Colten Ellis Continues To Raise Eyebrows

All the talk in recent days of how good Jordan Binnington is, and the solid start by Joel Hofer in Jim Montgomery's debut as St. Louis Blues coach has Blues fans abuzz about its strong goaltending again.

Take a peak to the northeast, and Colten Ellis continues to lurk.

The Springfield Thunderbirds goalie is on a heater.

Ellis, a third-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, went 2-0-0 in back-to-back games for the Thunderbirds, 4-1 over Hartford on Saturday and 3-2 over Providence on Saturday.

The 24-year-old, who is 7-4-1 with a 2.52 goals-against average and .923 save percentage on the season, has won four straight starts and is 5-0-1 in his past six starts.

Ellis, who stopped 48 of 51 shots in two wins this past weekend, has a 2.17 GAA and .934 save percentage his past six starts that has vaulted Springfield to within two points of second in the Atlantic Division, going 7-2-1-0.

Since the start of last season, the 24-year-old has a 2.52 GAA and .924 save percentage in 28 games

* Dalibor Dvorsky -- Ellis' teammate and 10th pick in the 2023 draft, has also been heating up at the American Hockey League level.

The 19-year-old had two goals and an assist in back-to-back-to-back games over the weekend, extending his point streak to five games (two goals, three assists); he had 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 11 games in November and was named the Thunderbirds' player of  the month:

He scored in a 3-2 loss against Utica on Friday:

He scored against Hartford on Saturday to give the Thunderbirds a 2-1 lead:

Dvorsky is up to 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) with a plus-4 in 20 games this season that includes 12 points (six goals, six assists) the past 13 games.

* Tomas Mrsic -- Seems like the 2024 fourth-round pick is on the weekly report every week, but it's tough to keep the center off of it when he continues to put up the points for Prince Albert of the Western Hockey League.

Mrsic put up five points in two games, including a three-goal, one-assist game Friday in a 6-5 win against Swift Current; Mrsic scored the game-winner with 2:52 remaining for his second hat trick of the season (in five games):

Mrsic has 31 points (16 goals, 15 assists) in 20 games and leads the Raiders in goals; just in the past six games, he has 13 points (eight goals, five assists).

The kid is a shooter from distance ...

Or finds himself at the net:

* Jakub Stancl -- The projections for the 2023 fourth-round pick have always been a bottom six forward.

The 19-year-old is trying to defy those odds with another point-filled week for Kelowna of the WHL.

Stancl put up six points (one goal, five assists) in three games, including a four-point game and plus-5 rating on Sunday in a 9-1 blowout win over Regina.

This kid can obviously shoot the puck:

Stancl is now up to 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) in 23 games on the season and is averaging 7.13 face-off wins per game.

* Juraj Pekarcik -- Four goals the past three games, including two in back-to-back games this weekend has the 2023 third-round pick continuing to play well for the 20-4-2 Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL.

Pekarcik, who has 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists) in 24 games, scored this beauty of a wrister on Friday in a 4-3 overtime win over Gatineau Friday:

* Will Cranley -- Binnington, Hofer, Ellis, Vadim Zherenko and now Cranley.

Unfortunately, the 2020 sixth-round pick is down on the pecking order, but all the 22-year-old goalie can do is work his way up.

Cranley stopped 35 of 37 shots for Florida of the ECHL on Friday in a 2-1 overtime loss against Fort Wayne.

Cranley has allowed three or fewer goals in each of his seven starts and two or fewer in five of them; he is 4-2-1 with a 1.97 GAA and .932 save percentage.

Needless to say, Blues organizational goaltending depth is peaking.

* Prospects for WJC -- Rosters are starting to get announced for the 2025 World Junior Championship in Ottawa.

For the Blues, defenseman Colin Ralph (St. Cloud State University) was named to USA's preliminary roster. Also included are Stancl (Czechia), Adam Jecho (Czechia; Edmonton, WHL), Ondrej Kos (Czechia; Ilves U-20, SM-sarja), Adam Jiricek is an extra for Czechia who is currently injured at Brantford (OHL).

As more countries announce their rosters, keep an eye on more Blues prospects, including Theo Lindstein and Otto Stenberg for Sweden and Pekarcik for Slovakia. It's a bit of a surprise that Quinton Burns (Kingston, OHL) wasn't named to Canada's roster. Burns, the Frontenacs' captain, has a goal and 16 assists and a plus-19 in 27 games.