New Jersey Devils goaltender Corey Crawford has announced he will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team.
#NEWS: We have released a statement regarding Corey Crawford: pic.twitter.com/2g6HSVh3kW
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 8, 2021
Corey Crawford Takes Leave of Absence
The Devils opened training camp back on December 31st. Crawford was in attendance for the first two days of training camp on December 31st and January 1st. However, he missed the next two practices as maintenance days. Then the Devils had a mandatory day off and went back to work later in the week. Bit there was no Corey Crawford. The team classified those days as personal days. Prior to his announcement, his teammates reiterated that he could take as much time as needed to go through this personal issue.
Recall, Crawford signed a two-year deal with the Devils back in October during the beginning of free-agency. This was after spending 13 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, the only team he knew. That was a tougher transition to make than he thought it would be. Crawford thought he was going to spend the rest of his career with the team that initially drafted him in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2003 NHL Draft. Crawford won two Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks in 2013 and 2015. He has posted 260 wins, 162 losses, and 53 overtime losses over his 473 games started with a .918 save percentage and 4.25 goals-against average.
Last season, Crawford went 16-20-3 in over 39 starts with a 2.77 goals-against average and .917 save percentage on a subpar Chicago team. However, Crawford showed why he is a winner guiding the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after eliminating the Edmonton Oilers in the qualifying round. For his career in the playoffs, he has a 2.38 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. However, Crawford could not stay healthy over the past couple of seasons dealing with concussion issues. He also dealt with COVID-19 prior to the restart in August of the 2019-20 season.
What the Future Means
First off, the most important thing is that Corey Crawford is healthy. As previously mentioned it tough to make a transition from one team to another. Not to mention the way he left Chicago left a bad taste in his mouth and was ready to prove his worth to the Devils. The Devils upgraded a position of need and had a good tandem with him and Mackenzie Blackwood. Especially in a short season. Having a guy like Crawford would have given Blackwood the time off he needed and not play as many games. The good thing is he gave the Devils plenty of notice to look for at a backup plan. As of now, the Devils are looking at Scott Wedgewood and Gilles Senn. Wedgewood has the most NHL experience and it has shown in the early days of training camp.
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