Make or break season for Crawford?

[gmalis1]

Well, all you Corey Crawford haters:

Blackhawks announced today that they have signed Crawford to a six year extension. Financial details have not been released as yet.

This is a great move for the Hawks. It gives them the stability in goal they haven't had in a very long time. I'm confident that Crawford will continue to work on his game and stay focused. It will be difficult to maintain the same level he had last season and in the playoffs, but stats similar to last season will keep the Hawks at or near the top of the NHL.

Of course, all you Antti Raanta fans...what does this mean now? Will Raanta have a chance to compete to win the job in 2014-2015? I don't know the answer to that.

Also, curious about the financial details to the contract. The Hawks have been generous, but fair, extending their own players in the recent past. I'm sure everyone was scratching their head that the Hawks overpaid for Bryan Bickell at $4 million a year, but I'm also sure that other teams would have offered him even more.

Hey, kudos to Corey for a great season. Should have been the Conn Smythe winner, in my opinion. And kudos to Corey for wanting to extend with the Hawks rather than test the free agent waters.

Nice signing Blackhawks.

 

[anotheridiot]

Dont call us haters, we just didnt think the hawks are ever gonna sign a big dollar goaltender. I guess when we see the dollars in this deal we can decide if its a good one or not.

I figured we see how he does with 2" less pads next season and extend him during the season. I guess we see if he is out primary over the next 6 seasons.

 

[gmalis1]

Dont call us haters, we just didnt think the hawks are ever gonna sign a big dollar goaltender. I guess when we see the dollars in this deal we can decide if its a good one or not.

I figured we see how he does with 2" less pads next season and extend him during the season. I guess we see if he is out primary over the next 6 seasons.

Figures released for Corey Crawford's extension: Six years for $36 million.

No home town discount there. That really puts him in the upper echelon of goalies. I think that actually puts Crawford with the largest cap hit in the NHL for a goalie. Luongo's is $5.33 million, Quick is $5.8 million and Howard is about $5.3 million.

The 2" smaller pads is irrelevant. Every goalie will have to have pads that are 2" less. Everyone's GAA will increase slightly.

And obviously, with that kind of money spent Corey is the main guy for years to come.

Now, everyone can start comparing him and his contract to Cristobal Huet. Next discussion!

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Heard the Hawks re-signed him for 6 years $36 million. A little higher than his actual market value IMO, but considering what he did for the team I think he deserves it. Sometimes you gotta reward the guys who won you the Cup. Didn't like how they let Niemi go (thought they should've treated him better), but I'm glad they didn't do that with Crawford. Shows that if you do good things for the franchise you get rewarded.

 

[gmalis1]

Just got all the figures from cap geek. Crawford's cap hit actually will rank 7th in the league in 2014-2015.

The top 7: Rinne, Rask, Henrik Lundquist, Carey Price, Cam Ward, Ryan Miller, Crawford.

Looking at that list, I think that's reasonable. Price, Ward and even Miller are all worse than Crawford, by a wide margin. Rinne has a year or two left, that's about it. Lundquist is Mr Goalie right now. Rask...well the juries out on him still. I feel he is no better or worse than Crawford.

So, all that in perspective, the dollar amount seems to be fair for a top five NHL goalie.

The term is a bit long. I would have liked to see 4 years, but it is what it is. Corey gets his and basically just won the lottery. If I'm his fiancee, I'm marrying him like tomorrow.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

The top 7: Rinne, Rask, Henrik Lundquist, Carey Price, Cam Ward, Ryan Miller, Crawford.

I don't think Carey Price belongs on that list. Crawford & Ward have won their respective teams the Cup, Miller & Lundqvist have really carried their teams over the years, at least Pekka Rinne gets nominated for the Vezina. Price obviously has talent, skills, & potential, but up to this point I don't think he's done anything to warrant such accolades.

 

[gmalis1]

Rinne is great...especially with an offensively challenged team like the Predators. But he only has a year or two left in the NHL, by his account.

Rask is young, has won a Cup, and is awfully similar to Crawford. The occasional bad goal or two, but then spectacular at times.

Price...I find it hard to believe he is the third highest paid goalie. I wouldn't want him as my starter.

Ward...yep, another Cup winner, but what has he done lately? Nothing, including being at the bottom of the GAA and save percentage the past 2-3-4 years. Wouldn't want him even as the backup at this stage.

Miller, always stellar with a fantastic career both in the NHL and on Team USA. Too bad he is stuck playing for a putrid Sabres team. He only has about a year or two left as well.

So that get's us to Crawford. Isn't his $6 million per year worth it in comparison to the other "Top 6"?

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Rinne is great...especially with an offensively challenged team like the Predators. But he only has a year or two left in the NHL, by his account.
True, Preds are mostly scrubs but they're one of the toughest teams to play against just because of Rinne & Weber.

Rask is young, has won a Cup, and is awfully similar to Crawford. The occasional bad goal or two, but then spectacular at times.
Yeah, Rask is young so he's inconsistent, but he has the makings to be an ELITE level goalie no doubt. I fully expect him to be a Vezina winner down the road.

Price...I find it hard to believe he is the third highest paid goalie. I wouldn't want him as my starter.
I personally think Carey Price is the most overrated goalie in the NHL. IDK if you play EA's NHL series but they got Price as a top 3 rated goalie in that game as well. Reason being is that he's the poster boy for young Canadian goalies. Every kid under the age of 15 in Canada that wants to be a goalie tries to emulate Carey Price. I don't blame them, he's got great skills, technique, and talent. At the same time, he hasn't really lived up to that potential in the NHL. I think people need to wake up and realize he's not the best Canadian goalie. I would take Corey Crawford, Jimmy Howard, Braden Holtby, and even Roberto Luongo over Carey Price if I were Team Canada.

Ward...yep, another Cup winner, but what has he done lately? Nothing, including being at the bottom of the GAA and save percentage the past 2-3-4 years. Wouldn't want him even as the backup at this stage.
Gotta respectfully disagree here, problem with Ward is that he plays for one of the worst defenses in the NHL. Hurricanes are always giving up loads of shots, puck possession in their own zone, & scoring chances galore. Look at him compared to his backups, I think he's still good, he just gets hurt a lot. I still respect him for winning the Cup tho, especially as a rookie. What a great story that was the yea after the lockout: [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE]

Miller, always stellar with a fantastic career both in the NHL and on Team USA. Too bad he is stuck playing for a putrid Sabres team. He only has about a year or two left as well.
Yeah, nothing but respect for Miller, but he does look like he's wearing down now. I would for sure leave the Sabres and see if I could make use of my final good days if I were him.

So that get's us to Crawford. Isn't his $6 million per year worth it in comparison to the other "Top 6"?
I agree, he's deserving of $6 million, although I'm not a Hawks fan, I felt he was very deserving of a big contract for what he did this past season. Would be really unfair to make him prove his worth the year after he proved his worth.

 

[gmalis1]

DooBee...you rather have Corey Crawford or Marc-Andre Fleury?

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

DooBee...you rather have Corey Crawford or Marc-Andre Fleury?

Hard to say. Crawford is no doubt playing better right now, but I expect MAF to bounce back this season now that he'll have to prove his worth to the team. Lot of people are down on MAF right now, but I still believe in Flower Power. I think objectively I would take Crawford over MAF right now, but as a Pens fan I still gotta stick with MAF. Much as the Hawks owed some sense of loyalty to Crawford, I think the Pens owe some degree of loyalty to MAF as well.

 

[Baseballnut77]

Not a Crawford hater either but 6 million for him is nota good deal at his point when you consider 6 years. could have easily done 4 years instead. But at least now we will see what he does with that contract in tow. If he falters with that D in front of him, the thud will be heard all the way to canada

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Not a Crawford hater either but 6 million for him is nota good deal at his point when you consider 6 years. could have easily done 4 years instead. But at least now we will see what he does with that contract in tow. If he falters with that D in front of him, the thud will be heard all the way to canada

I think you could argue that he could've been gotten for cheaper, but he certainly deserves to get paid. People used to say the defense was the only reason Niemi was so good but he proved himself to be a truly ELITE goalie last season. If Crawford could prove to be as good as Niemi then a 3rd Cup is inevitable for the Hawks. Not calling you a Crawford hater or anything, but too many people seem to think Crawford was just a product of the system when he would often bail out the defense as well, really gave opponents nothing to shoot at on a lot of occasions. We'll see how it works out, maybe the Hawks will regret it, but I think Crawford has the potential to be among the league's net minders with or without a dominant defense.

 

[Baseballnut77]

I do agree with you doobie. I believed he should have won the mvp of the playoffs.He is a good goalie and now with this contract we will learn if he is a great goalie. The bonus is we have Raanta and carruth to fall back on down the road should we need it. I have seen the footage on Raanta and he is a very smooth goalie much like niemi. I also(due to where I live now) was able to watch carruth a lot in the juniors and I believe he can become much like Crawford in that he will learn in the minors and become a very good goalie quietly like corey did

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

I do agree with you doobie. I believed he should have won the mvp of the playoffs.He is a good goalie and now with this contract we will learn if he is a great goalie. The bonus is we have Raanta and carruth to fall back on down the road should we need it. I have seen the footage on Raanta and he is a very smooth goalie much like niemi. I also(due to where I live now) was able to watch carruth a lot in the juniors and I believe he can become much like Crawford in that he will learn in the minors and become a very good goalie quietly like corey did

So will the goalies of the Rockford IceHogs this year be Mac Carruth & Antti Raanta? Will be sure to try them out when NHL 14 comes out. Always fun to try out prospects in that game.

 

[anotheridiot]

I do agree with you doobie. I believed he should have won the mvp of the playoffs.He is a good goalie and now with this contract we will learn if he is a great goalie. The bonus is we have Raanta and carruth to fall back on down the road should we need it. I have seen the footage on Raanta and he is a very smooth goalie much like niemi. I also(due to where I live now) was able to watch carruth a lot in the juniors and I believe he can become much like Crawford in that he will learn in the minors and become a very good goalie quietly like corey did

This is the reason they didnt need to go 6 years. They already had a plan in place and crow might be backing up one of these guys in two years. But then again, the hawks are slow to develop goalies, so it might be 4-5 years before we see Anntii or Carruth.

I would think this is a hometown discount since rask got 8/56. Its closer to luongo getting 12/64 and we know how that worked out for Vancooover. I dont know, I thought they had time next year to see if he keeps driving forward. This is an extension though, so he will still make 2.66 next season and jump to 6 after so we have him 7 more years. Part of what they did with Huet was because they had crow ready to take over for niemi, I cant doubt the same thing happens. They didnt tank just because Niemi left, it was the 10 other guys.

 

[Baseballnut77]

totally agree

 

[JBM73]

Well, all you Corey Crawford haters:

At some point most people learn how to have respectful discussions even with those who disagree with them, instead of getting mad and reacting very negatively.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

At some point most people learn how to have respectful discussions even with those who disagree with them, instead of getting mad and reacting very negatively.

He's sort of right Jeff, even I had you pegged as a hater when I read your original post. I didn't want to say anything but I was sort of offended by what you said about the Crawfish.

JK BTW

 

[JBM73]

He's sort of right Jeff, even I had you pegged as a hater when I read your original post. I didn't want to say anything but I was sort of offended by what you said about the Crawfish.

JK BTW

LOL. I don't get the negativity some fans display towards their fellow fans. I HATE that.

 

[Baseballnut77]

lol 99% of us will always try to be constructive jbm. i am not always right and i know that but even then for those that treat people in a good way you will pretty much never hear me rip someone apart for the sake of telling them they are wrong. but when i see it done by someone else all bets are off lol (not that i am talking about you jbm)