If the gap between what Blues fans and non-Blues fans think about Jordan Binnington wasn’t wide enough, it grew wider Tuesday.

Four days after their second-round loss to Colorado, the Blues held their end-of-year interviews, and Binnington was one of the select players made available. It was the first time the goaltender commented publicly since he left Game 3 of the series following a collision with the Avalanche’s Nazem Kadri. We’ll get to Binnington’s thoughts on the collision in a moment, but first, you’ll recall reports that he threw a water bottle at Kadri after the game.

The Athletic’s Peter Baugh had already confirmed Binnington tossed the bottle, but Tuesday, Binnington confirmed it himself.

“I went to get my knee checked out mid-game,” Binnington said. “I was coming back to the rink, and the game just ended. Walking down the hallway, I couldn’t find a recycling bin on my way down the hallway. Right before I walked into the locker room, I see him kind of doing an interview there, smiling, laughing, and I’m there in a knee brace limping down the hallway.

“I just felt like it was a God-given opportunity. I could just stay silent and go in the room, or I could say something and just have him look me in the eye and understand what’s going on — something to think about. Yeah, I just threw the water bottle, an empty water bottle. It landed like 2 feet from him. It is what it is there. I mean, but it is what it is. It’s hockey, and it’s a competitive game. So … that’s it.”

If you don’t believe what you just read, here’s the video:

Jordan Binnington is content gold #stlblues pic.twitter.com/LMSk9eoTfN

— Tyler Stewart (@TStewart_92) May 31, 2022

The reaction to Binnington’s response was wide-ranging on social media, from, “Damn, I love this guy,” to, “This is literally something the 3-year-olds I work with would say when I asked why they bit someone.”

Those were just two of the hundreds of replies I received.

I honestly don’t have an opinion. I’ve been watching this for four years, and I get both sides. This was Binnington being Binnington, which is something we haven’t seen much of since the start of his struggles earlier this season. Perhaps this is a sign, after he posted a .949 save percentage in the playoffs, that he’s back to being himself again.

At least Binnington answered the question, and you can’t say he wasn’t honest. But if you’re from Colorado or root for another team that’s seen Binnington fake-punch one of its players or swing a stick in someone’s direction, you’re probably chalking this up to more immaturity from the Blues goalie.

I’ll let you decide, but I do have a few takeaways: No. 1, if Enterprise Center had more recycling bins, does that mean none of this would have happened? No. 2, does God actually provide opportunities to throw things at people? And No. 3, either way, something tells me this won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

Here are my other takeaways from interview day:

If throwing the water bottle at Kadri wasn’t enough evidence that Binnington wasn’t happy with the hit, his carefully worded answer Tuesday let you know he thought the Avalanche forward knew what he was doing — though Binnington didn’t go so far as accusing Kadri of purposely hurting him.

“It’s a physical sport,” Binnington said. “It’s playoff time, and he’s going to go to the net hard, and that’s how it goes. I don’t think he intentionally was trying to do what he did to me, for me to get injured. But I think he knows how to play hard, how to go to the net, and it happens in this sport. So for me, it is what it is. I just have to kind of deal with it.”

Binnington was wearing a brace on his left knee and confirmed he won’t need surgery. He said the knee is doing all right and the time off will allow it to heal properly. He wouldn’t say whether he would have been able to play in the Western Conference final if the Blues had advanced.

As I wrote in my story on the team’s offseason priorities over the weekend, the fact that Binnington was able to get back in the net before the end of the season and perform well will help his mindset heading into the summer and when he returns for training camp. He agreed Tuesday.

“I was feeling good, for sure,” Binnington said. “Definitely, it was fun being back out there and being in those moments. … It definitely was nice to prove to myself and to get back in there and feel good and get some victories. It was just fun being a part of it again.”

It also doesn’t seem like Binnington is holding on to any negative feelings about the Blues sticking with Ville Husso throughout the regular season and into the playoffs.

“Ville had an outstanding season, and he’s a great goaltender,” Binnington said. “It was working for the team. … I feel I’m in a great spot, and I think it was a great learning experience of a season for me and a good test of character.

“I think that’s what kind of makes life fun, having to overcome challenges. At the end of the day, that’s what you are going to be most proud of, moments like that. I’m proud of how I handled it and how the team handled it.”

So, will Husso be back next season? He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer and might have played his way into a contract the Blues won’t be able to afford.

Listening to Blues general manager Doug Armstrong on Tuesday, it sounds like the team will do its best to keep him.

“Ville and I had a conversation this morning,” Armstrong said. “He’s put himself in a very good spot. He had a great regular season. Obviously, the playoffs were up and down for all of us. He was put into a really difficult situation coming into the Colorado series.

“I’m a Ville Husso fan. I told him I’d love him to come back, but also it’s a business for him … and he’s put himself in a spot now where if he wants to test the market, I would understand it. It’s a long time between today and July 13, when they’re allowed to hit free agency. We have some time to work on it.”

David Perron didn’t want to talk about his contract situation publicly Tuesday, but you get the impression an extension will get done and the veteran will be back with the Blues next season.

“I’d love to be back,” Perron said. “The desire has been there for me last year, during the year and right now. … I feel like I’ve built myself as a player over the years, and I want to keep this going, for sure.”

Armstrong said he would like to bring back Perron.

“I sure would,” he said. “He fights Father Time better than anyone, than 95, 99 percent of the NHL. What he did this year was spectacular. He’s a very good player, and more importantly, he’s a better person.

“I’ve seen him grow and become a husband and a father. I’ve seen the influence he’s had on our younger players. They see the competitiveness that he has on a daily basis. He’s a true pro and (has) been a very good St. Louis Blue, and if we can make it work out, I’d love to.”

Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly certainly wants Perron back — the two have had great chemistry over the years — and now O’Reilly’s contract extension is something to pay attention to.

When O’Reilly was traded from Buffalo to St. Louis in 2018, he had five years left on the deal. In 2022-23, he’ll be playing out the final year.

“Yeah, it’s crazy going into a contract year,” O’Reilly said. “It feels like time kind of flew by. Yeah, I’m sure things, over the summer and going into next year, I’m sure we’ll try to figure something out. Again, the season just ended, so we haven’t really had time to discuss it.”

The Blues and O’Reilly can’t officially announce an extension until July 13, the first day of free agency, but rest assured, he wants to stay in St. Louis.

“Oh, absolutely,” O’Reilly said. “It’s a place I want to be.”

I joked with O’Reilly on Tuesday that he and Perron should sign new deals that expire in the same summer, which means Perron would receive one more year than O’Reilly to make that work.

“That’ll be to my advantage if that’s the case,” Perron said, laughing.

Again, this sounds like another situation where you can bank on O’Reilly getting a contract at some point.

I knew O’Reilly didn’t look like himself early in the season, but I didn’t realize how much his COVID-19 case impacted his play. He missed four games on the protocol list and scored just two goals in a 19-game stretch upon his return.

“It definitely did a number on me,” O’Reilly said. “It was tough coming back from it. Needing to have jump and stamina, it was tough, it was hard. It took a little while to find my rhythm again. Yeah, I don’t think anybody had an easy time with COVID.”

Everyone knows Brayden Schenn dealt with multiple injuries this season. Turns out he broke ribs on three separate occasions. The last time was April 21 in San Jose, forcing him to sit out the last four games of the regular season.

“I was in San Jose on the last one, and I didn’t have the puck, and Brent Burns drove his elbow and his forearm into the back of my ribs and broke them,” Schenn said. “You sit out time and you kind of get as healthy as possible into the playoffs. It’s the reality of the sport, and I’m not the only guy banged up in the playoffs.”

Schenn returned for the playoffs but had no goals and eight assists in 12 games.

“I’m not here to make excuses at all,” he said. “I’ve got to find a way to score a goal and produce in the playoffs. I’m not using injury as an excuse. I’ve got to find a way to be better. It’s just one of those things when you get unlucky sometimes.”

It was a bit surprising when Torey Krug was on the ice for warmups before Game 6 against Colorado. After suffering a knee injury in the Minnesota series, was he that close to returning?

“If it was up to Kruger, he would’ve played that game,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “It was a tough call. Yeah, with his injury and with (Marco) Scandella’s injury, I didn’t want to go seven D. It was tough. He was ready. He could’ve played, probably. But I didn’t think it was worth it at the time. Power play, maybe it would’ve been. It’s a tough call. But if we got past that game, he would’ve been in Game 7.”

So, the Blues would like to re-sign Husso and Perron, but what about defenseman Nick Leddy? With just $10 million in projected cap space next year, that might prove too difficult.

“​We understand what the salary cap’s going to be,” Armstrong said. “It’s locked in stone now, so it’s just massaging it to get a number of good players back.”

Could the Blues really bring back all three?

“I wouldn’t say no,” he said. “We’re going to go to work. If we can make it work, we will. We’re not just throwing our hands up in the air and saying, ‘We can’t bring anyone back.’ That’s not how the St. Louis Blues have operated, and that’s not how we’re going to operate moving forward.”

I don’t see how Armstrong can bring back all three without moving some other salary.

Let’s end with Vladimir Tarasenko. We all know the story: He asked for a trade last summer, then had a career year, and now everyone is wondering whether he’ll be back for the final year of his contract in ’22-’23.

“I thought Vladi had a real good year,” Armstrong said. “I think what we saw this year was a healthy Vladimir Tarasenko. Even when he’s not scoring, the other team is nervous. When he’s on the ice in any game, any playoff series, he’s a circled player. Being a circled player, if he’s not scoring, it opens up opportunities for other guys. I thought Vladi had a very good regular season. I thought he was a player that we counted on in the playoffs. We always have, and he always delivers.”

And when asked whether Tarasenko would be on the Blues’ roster next season, Armstrong replied: “I’m not concerned about Vladi for next year at all.”

At this point, if you had to put money on it, you’d probably have to say Tarasenko will be back with the Blues next season. But as we’ve seen with this story, there’s always the possibility of things changing.

 (Top photo of Jordan Binnington: Jeff Curry / USA Today)