Corey Crawford Is The Wild Card Of Blackhawks’ 2018-19 Season

This offseason, one of the biggest unknowns on this Blackhawks team is Corey Crawford. Many fans, including myself, are wondering whether or not he will be able to play in the upcoming 2018-19 season. The organization has been very secretive and vague about the whole thing up until now. The suspense has the entire fan base on the edge of their seats. There have been signs pointing towards Crawford being able and ready to play next season. The first bit of good news was that the organization revealed that he would be attending the annual Blackhawks Convention this year.

#crOwMG! Corey Crawford is coming to the #Blackhawks Convention!

See all of the confirmed attendees and check back as more are added: https://t.co/EbHGVMI9dn pic.twitter.com/Pccll9MiA9

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) May 31, 2018

There was also a leaked photo of Corey Crawford’s goalie mask for the 2018-19 season.

Sneak peek at Corey Crawford’s new mask from longtime mask artist Stéphane Bergeron. #Blackhawks #CrowMG pic.twitter.com/UKQTyQdQDC

— MLP (@Pappy_Hour) June 1, 2018

How Valuable Is Corey Crawford to the Blackhawks?

In case you were wondering how valuable Corey Crawford is to the Chicago Blackhawks, the answer is extremely. Look no further than last season. The Blackhawks found themselves in unfamiliar territory as the team finished the 2018-19 season in last place, looking up at the Central Division. There are currently more questions than answers in the Blackhawks' organization. Unlike in seasons past, this year, the biggest question involves the goaltending position. Crawford missed three and a half months and look how the season turned out. In the 28 games before his injury, Crawford was performing at the level of a Vezina Trophy finalist.

                                                                                                     Goal                  Scor
Season    Age  Tm  Lg  GP  GS   W   L T/O  GA    SA    SV  SV%  GAA SO   MIN  QS  QS% RBS GA%-  GSAA  GPS    G A PTS PIM Awards
2017-18    33 CHI NHL  28  27  16   9   2  60   842   782 .929 2.27  2  1584  17 .630   3   81 13.90  6.2    0 0   0          0
Career            NHL 409 395 230 124  45 930 11454 10524 .919 2.37 23 23567 238 .603             49 75.4    0 5   5         18

Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table Corey Crawford has had a great career so far and he did it relatively under the radar. He regularly puts up a solid Save % and Goals Against Average (GAA). Another impressive feat is that Crawford has posted at least 2 shutouts every season since 2012. You can easily see the amount of value and impact he has.

                                                                                                       Goal                                   Scor
Season    Age  Tm  Lg  GP  GS   W   L T/O  GA    SA    SV  SV%  GAA SO   MIN  QS   QS% RBS GA%-   GSAA  GPS    G A PTS PIM                  Awards
2005-06    21 CHI NHL       2   0   0   1   5    41    36 .878 3.47  0                              86  0.1    0 0   0                           0
2007-08    23 CHI NHL   5   3   1   2   0   8   112   104 .929 2.14  1   224   2  .667               0  0.9    0 0   0                           0
2009-10    25 CHI NHL   1   1   0   1   0   3    35    32 .914 3.04  0    59   1 1.000               0  0.2    0 0   0                           0
2010-11    26 CHI NHL  57  55  33  18   6 128  1545  1417 .917 2.30  4  3337  34  .618   6   95   6.59 10.0    0 1   1   2                Calder-4
2011-12    27 CHI NHL  57  55  30  17   7 146  1507  1361 .903 2.72  0  3218  27  .491  13  112 -15.70  7.3    0 0   0                           0
2012-13    28 CHI NHL  30  28  19   5   5  57   769   712 .926 1.94  3  1761  19  .679   1   84  10.73  6.0    0 0   0   4  AS-6Jennings-1Vezina-8
2013-14    29 CHI NHL  59  56  32  16  10 128  1533  1405 .917 2.26  2  3395  31  .554   6   97   4.09  9.8    0 1   1                           0
2014-15    30 CHI NHL  57  57  32  20   5 126  1661  1535 .924 2.27  2  3333  38  .667   4   89  15.77 11.9    0 1   1   8 AS-10Jennings-1Vezina-6
2015-16    31 CHI NHL  58  58  35  18   5 131  1718  1587 .924 2.37  7  3323  40  .690   9   90  15.27 12.0    0 1   1   2            AS-4Vezina-5
2016-17    32 CHI NHL  55  55  32  18   4 138  1691  1553 .918 2.55  2  3247  29  .527   7   94   8.34 11.0    0 1   1                           2
2017-18    33 CHI NHL  28  27  16   9   2  60   842   782 .929 2.27  2  1584  17  .630   3   81  13.90  6.2    0 0   0                           0
Career            NHL 409 395 230 124  45 930 11454 10524 .919 2.37 23 23567 238  .603              49 75.4    0 5   5                          18

Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table Which Crawford will we see upon his return? Will we get the 3-time Stanley Cup champ and 2-time William M. Jennings Trophy winner in peak form, or will the wear and tear of playing in 82 game seasons every year (besides 2012-13) and playoffs over the past 8 seasons finally catch up to him? It is hard to say really. Crawford is currently 33 years old and will be turning 34 on December 31st. Age could start to become a factor for him at this point in his career.

Blackhawks Preparing For Post-Crawford Era?

The Blackhawks are preparing for the future. They recently signed four players on May 21st and one was a goalie, Kevin Lankinen.

Finnish goaltender Kevin Lankinen inks a 2-year deal with the #Blackhawks!

Get to know the 23-year-old netminder: https://t.co/wENEBZwlrY pic.twitter.com/HiR22MNdVB

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) May 22, 2018

Lankinen is a promising, young Finnish netminder who is getting better and better each year. He is also a proven playoff performer. Here are his career stats: Lankinen also has the ability to make an acrobatic save as seen here in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og3O2Lv6TkQ However, I do not see Lankinen making his NHL debut this season. He will likely report to either the Indy Fuel (ECHL) or the Rockford IceHogs (AHL), both of which are affiliate teams of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Corey Crawford Will Need Some Help Next Season

A healthy Corey Crawford will not be able to do it all on his own next season. If the Blackhawks are smart, they will surround him with a capable backup and some competent defensemen to take some of the pressure off of him. There are a couple ways to make this happen. The 2018 NHL Draft is June 22-23 in Dallas, Texas. In my article about the upcoming draft, I listed my Top Targets in the draft for the Blackhawks. My favorite target is Quinn Hughes, a defenseman from Michigan who is oozing with potential and upside. Besides Hughes, there are a number of other players in the draft that can come in and make an immediate impact on the team. As far as the backup goalie spot goes, it seems like the Blackhawks will make a move in free agency to fill that need. They have a few viable options to go with. My top UFA goalie target is former Blackhawk, Carter Hutton. At age 32, Hutton just posted the best stat line of his career in St. Louis and forced Jake Allen into a timeshare situation.

                      Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal  Goal Goal
Season    Age  Tm  Lg   GP   GS    W    L  T/O   GA   SA   SV  SV%  GAA   SO  MIN   QS  QS%  RBS GA%-  GSAA  GPS
2017-18    32 STL NHL   32   26   17    7    3   56  810  754 .931 2.09    3 1610   19 .731    2   79 15.09  6.2
3 yrs         NSH NHL   75   66   33   23   12  173 1920 1747 .910 2.55    4 4074   28 .424              12 10.5
2 yrs         STL NHL   62   47   30   15    5  114 1473 1359 .923 2.23    7 3069   30 .638               5 10.0
1 yr          CHI NHL    1    1    0    1    0    3   28   25 .893 3.06    0   59    0 .000               0  0.1
Career            NHL  138  114   63   39   17  290 3421 3131 .915 2.42   11 7202   58 .509              17 20.6

Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table Here are a few more capable options to fill the backup spot for the Blackhawks:

• Jonathan Bernier
• Michael Hutchinson
• Kari Lehtonen
• Jaroslav Halak
• Cam Ward
• Anton Khudobin
• Ondrej Pavelec
• Eddie Lack

If the Blackhawks decide to make a promotion from within the organization, I believe their best bet is to give Collin Delia a shot at the backup goaltender spot. He has definitely earned an opportunity to crack the NHL roster and I talked about it in detail in one of my previous articles. The Blackhawks will definitely have their work cut out for them this offseason. General Manager, Stan Bowman, will need to use his last chance wisely and try to squeeze out one more postseason run before the window closes for our beloved Chicago Blackhawks. Let's see if they can make it work because nobody wants to go through another failed season without a playoff appearance.