TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 Corey Crawford is retiring after 13 years and 2 Stanley Cups in the NHL. He had been declining, or so it seemed, and signed with the Devils in hopes of keeping himself going while at the same time providing a goalie starved NJ team with some stability in net. That won't be happening. Ever. The Devils have had a mish mash of players since Martin Brodeur retired trying to lock down the net, but none have succeeded...and when they DID think that they had someone (Cory Schneider), turns out he wasn't a long term solution either. NJ does have MacKenzie Blackwood and he seems to be good, only this time, instead of 'easing' into anything with the likes of a proven veteran like Crawford at his back, Blackwood will HAVE to be "The Man", with perhaps someone like Scott "Don't Call Me Doorstop" Wedgewood backing him up. Blackwood and Wedgewood. The New Jersey Carpenters are all set in net, right? Well, the team has made some strides and have lots of good young talent on the skater fronts, but until someone takes ownership of the net, they can't be considered a serious playoff contender. Blackwood could be their guy, then all the Devils need to do is find a comfortable back up...if not, they may find themselves competing for a top draft pick once again, unless they can somehow pull off a trade that brings them in an established starting netminder. Congrats to Corey Crawford on a very good career. He played for a high profile team in Chicago, won his Cups and can go off into the sunset fulfilled. But the Devils on the other hand, will continue to work their way out of the NHL basement. Corey Crawford wouldn't have been the be-all, end-all the Devils needed to suddenly contend, but he sure would have taken some of the heat off Blackwood. Maybe Blackwood doesn't need heat taken off him. I guess that is what Devils fans will find out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J0e Th0rnton Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 I like Blackwood. I liked him last year. The rest of the team is putrid though. They have some talent, but they are not exactly motivated or enthusiastic. I know how good Hischier can be. I watched him his draft year on the mooseheads. But I can tell he isn't enjoying hockey these days. That team is bizarre for kids looking amazing then just regressing or not improving like they lost a piece of their souls. Severson looked amazing his rookie year. but is meh average now Butcher looked like a world beater out of nowhere. now he looks like he belongs nowhere. Hischier had a terrific Rookie season. but is standing still Jesper Bratt also looked great his rookie season. but doesn't look any different 3 years later Pavel Zacha is looking like one of the worst picks in the top 10 of potentially the greatest draft year in history. Jack Hughes is young and being rushed. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 As for Crawford, there was a change in over-35 contracts. Under previous rules, the Devils could not have escaped his cap hit. However, they structured his deal in a way that they could. Now, multi-year 35-plus contracts where a) compensation is the same or goes up and b) there is no signing bonus after year one are no longer subject to a cap hit in case of retirement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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