Count St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington among those impressed by his team’s aggressive off-season.
In a new interview with Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com on Friday, Binnington said the pair of successful offer sheets given to Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway is motivating heading into a new season.
“It’s good to see some fight from the management in order to show confidence in our team to be better, faster and be more competitive,” Binnington said. “And I think we can feed off that.”
The Oilers declined the offer sheets on Tuesday, allowing the Blues to add two recent first-round picks to a team in transition.
Broberg will immediately slot into a prominent role a the blue line that also features veterans Colton Parayko and Justin Faulk. Holloway, meanwhile, joins a forward corps that includes Jordan Kyrou, captain Brayden Schenn and last season’s leading scorer Robert Thomas.
Like Binnington, Thomas said the moves could re-energize a Blues team that has missed the playoffs the past two years.
“It’s pretty exciting, two players who played a role in Edmonton’s deep Stanley Cup Playoff run and good young pieces,” Thomas said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys who aren’t necessarily prospects but have had a good taste of the playoffs at this level.
“It’s really exciting to be part of the Blues right now.”