Yesterday, the New Jersey Devils announced that goalkeeper Corey Crawford took an indefinite leave for personal reasons. Today, that license has become permanent. Corey Crawford announced his retirement this afternoon. Here is the short statement he provided to the Devils through the team’s website:
“I was lucky to have a long career playing professional hockey for a living. I wanted to continue my career, but I believe that I gave everything I could for hockey and decided that it is time to retire. I would like to thank the New Jersey Devils organization for understanding and supporting my decision. I would like to thank the Chicago Blackhawks organization for giving me the chance to live my childhood dream. I am proud to have won two Stanley Cups in Chicago. Thank you to all my teammates and coaches over the years. Also, thanks to the fans who make this great game what it is. I am happy and excited to move on to the next chapter of my life with my family. “
Crawford did have a long and successful career in the NHL. Above all in this post, we at All About the Jersey wish him the best in retirement.
The hope was that he would continue that career for two more seasons in New Jersey. His performances last year were very good. Enough to get excited about the Devils having a potentially strong pair of scorers from Mackenzie Blackwood and Crawford. I have been looking forward to it since he signed in October, which I thought was really good. Such a pairing would be instrumental in keeping a young, developing and rebuilt Devils team competitive in what could be a very difficult East Division in 2021. Crawford’s signature also provided future protection for Blackwood for the Seattle expansion project, as well as for assume part of the huge amount of cover space that demons have (and still have). That hope was turned off today. Although he participated in the camp at the beginning, Coach Lindy Ruff knew this was a possibility at first, as reported by Corey Masisak of The Athletic.
In terms of the salary cap, Corey Crawford was 35 when he signed his two-season contract. Yet, as Corey Masisak discovered and CapFriendly confirmed on Twitter, some adjustments were made to the 35+ contract rules and as a result, this retirement will not incur any penalty on the Devils cap. In other words, Crawford’s contract should be out of the books. Not that the Devils needed to release $ 3.9 million as they entered today with just under $ 8.7 million in capitalization space – more than enough to sign, say, Jesper Bratt.
The maximum limit can help Devils if they want to close a deal or get an exempt goalkeeper or free agency. The Devils should really consider looking outside the organization for a # 2 goalkeeper to be after Blackwood. As a result of this retirement announcement, the Devils’ goal depth chart is Blackwood as the definitive holder, a dispute between Scott Wedgewood and Gilles Senn – none of which was particularly impressive at AHL last season, and a total non-factor Evan Cormier . From now on, the first three names will be on the team; the only question is whether Wedgewood or Senn will be the reserve goalkeeper. Neither of you was particularly good last season, so that’s a problem. One of the reasons Crawford’s hiring was so good was that the Devils had a reliable option # 1B in case Blackwood faltered or got hurt. Now, the goal will be heavily dependent on Blackwood, before getting someone new.
With the camp ending in a few days and the regular season starting on Thursday, there’s not much time for the Demons to bring in someone new. We could see Wedgewood or Senn as the team’s reinforcement on January 14th. That wouldn’t be too bad to start with, but it’s a problem that will arise when Blackwood needs a break or, worse, get hurt. The Devils cannot be expected to be a playoff team even with a Blackwood-Crawford pair, but the goal for 2021 is to show some improvement for the future. Having a more capable goalkeeper can still help keep Devils competitive, rather than waiting for Senn or Wedgewood to play decently in some games.
In terms of exemption cord, the choices are expected to be minimal. But there must be goalkeepers available, as all teams must have a goalkeeper in their taxi squad. Today, goalkeepers Kasimir Kaskisuo and Michael Hutchinson were placed under exemption from Nashville and Toronto, respectively. Hutchinson is no better option than Senn or Wedgewood. Kaskisuo may be more viable just because his 90.9% save percentage in 27 games with the Marlies last season was better than Senn and Wedgewood’s save percentage. But it may just be a marginal improvement. The team can wait to see if anyone more tempting will be put on hold in the coming days. But time is short on that.
A negotiation could bring someone much better than what would be on the tightrope. The problem with that is that it would cost something and everyone in the league knows the demons need a goalkeeper. Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald will have to be careful not to be pulled by a barrel in a potential goalkeeper exchange. Until someone is decided to be the No. 2 goalkeeper in New Jersey, expect to see Devils connected to all commercial rumors involving a goalkeeper. And don’t expect these commercial rumors to mean anything, as most of them are just that: rumors.
The consolation that can be drawn from this is that if the Demons imagined that retirement would be a real possibility about a week ago, then they had at least a little time to make some preparations to resolve the team’s objective situation. We will know in a few days what they will do at least at the beginning of this regular season.
Still, I understand that Crawford’s retirement may be related to what led him to take a leave of absence. Since your motives are personal, I will not speculate on what they may be. We just wish him the best in dealing with them and stop being an NHL goalkeeper.