Jordan Binnington signed a six-year, $36 million contract extension with the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night, less than two years after backstopping them to their first Stanley Cup title in franchise history.
The 27-year-old Binnington is in his third season in St. Louis and played a key role in the Blues making a run from last place in the standings to winning the championship in the 2018-19 season. He won his first career start in January 2019 and finished the season with a 24-5-1 record.
Binnington proceeded to become the NHL’s first rookie goalie to win each of the Cup-winning team’s 16 playoff games.
He’s 9-6-3 this season and has an overall record of 63-24-11 with eight shutouts.
Binnington will count $6 million against the salary cap through 2026-27.
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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia won't attempt to replace injured Nathan Lyon with another spin bowler for the fourth Ashes test against England and will go into Friday's start of the match with a 12-man, pace-heavy squad.
After Lyon suffered a long-term hamstring injury in the Ashes-clinching win in Adelaide and later underwent surgery, offspinner Todd Murphy was called into the squad. But with the MCG pitch showing plenty of grass, Australia opted to leave Murphy out when it named its squad Thursday.
Captain Steve Smith will wait until the toss at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday before confirming a starting XI.
England lost each of the first three tests to allow Australia to retain the Ashes in just 11 days of on-field action.
It's unusual for an Australian team not to select a spinner at the MCG, a place where Shane Warne and Lyon have had success.
“A lot of the wickets we’re playing on at present are certainly more seam-friendly than spin-friendly,” Smith said on Thursday. “Last week (in Adelaide) was an anomaly; we saw some rough and we saw Nathan come in to play big-time.
“It’s a tricky one. You’ve just got to play what surface you’re presented with, and this one out here looks like it’s going to offer a fair bit of assistance for the seam bowlers."
Joining Lyon and captain Pat Cummins on the sidelines are Josh Inglis, with fast bowlers Jhye Richardson, Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser included.
Left-handed veteran Usman Khawaja was preferred to Inglis after making 82 and 40 in the third test in Adelaide. Richardson is in contention to play his first test in more than four years after a bad run of injuries.
Doggett and Neser played in the second test in Brisbane, but were left out in Adelaide when Cummins and Lyon returned.
England named its team on Wednesday with the big news the loss of star bowler Jofra Archer for the rest of the series, including the fifth and final test starting Jan. 4 in Sydney.
Australia squad: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (captain), Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Brendan Doggett, Scott Boland.
England team: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith, Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
England's Ben Stokes, right, walks with teammate Jofra Archer after dismissing Australia during play on day four of the third Ashes cricket test between England and Australia in Adelaide, Australia, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
Australia's Usman Khawaja sign autograph to fans after they won the third Ashes cricket test match against England in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 (AP Photo/James Elsby)
