Crawford is 10-16-3 with a 2.89 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in the final season of his six-year, $36 million deal.
According to TSN reporter and NHL Network insider Elliott Friedman, the Colorado Avalanche have an interest in Chicago Blackhawks’ goaltender Corey Crawford. Friedman included both Crawford and Robin Lehner in his 31 Thoughts article that was published on Tuesday afternoon.
Colorado is currently three points back of the St. Louis Blues for the top seed in the Central Division, and the addition of a premier netminder could make them the favorites to win the Western Conference. Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz have done a decent job to this point, but it seems unlikely that the Avs win the Stanley Cup with either guy in net.
If the Blackhawks feel there’s a strong chance that Lehner re-signs with the club, then moving Crawford makes sense for a couple of reasons. First, General Manager Stan Bowman and the front office likely won’t have the money to bring back Crawford in the offseason. With Lehner, Dylan Strome, and Dominik Kubalik needing new deals, there isn’t a lot of money to go around. If Crawford is going to walk this summer, then getting something in return before the trade deadline is the correct decision. Of course, ‘Crow’ does have a 10-team trade list as part of a no-movement clause that was included in his contract.
Second, the Blackhawks already have a couple of goaltenders in the system that appear ready to make the jump to the NHL. Collin Delia had flashes of brilliance during his short time with the Hawks last season, and Kevin Lankinen, who’s also an RFA on Jul. 1, led Finland to a gold medal at the IIHF World Championship back in May. Delia seems to have the upper-hand on Lankinen at the moment, but both guys are cheap and viable backup goaltender options for 2020-21.
But if the Blackhawks feel that Lehner is slipping out of their grasp, this entire situation becomes a lot more complicated. Lehner has established himself as one of the league’s top goaltenders with his play this season, and he’s vocalized that he doesn’t want to take a pay cut this time around in free agency. It doesn’t feel like the Blackhawks want to move Lehner, but they may have to if they won’t be able to afford him. The worst-case scenario is letting either Crawford or Lehner (or possibly both) enter free agency without getting anything in return.
The NHL trade deadline is just five days away, and there’s still A LOT of noise to be made around the league. It will be interesting to see what Bowman and the Blackhawks decide to do with the current roster.
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