Blackhawks: Does Corey Crawford Sign For $3.5M?

The Chicago Blackhawks offered Corey Crawford $3.5M to stay in Chicago for one more season. The question is, does he accept the deal?

The Chicago Blackhawks have offered Corey Crawford a one-year deal to return for the 2020-21 NHL season. He was offered $3,500,000 to stay – which I personally think is way too much. I’d say he’s worth $3,000,000, at the most. This team needs to preserve salary, not overpay for guys.

It’s not a shocker to me though, as Stan Bowman has a history of overpaying guys and giving bad contracts out. There are a few questionable ones that are still on the roster, which has made Chicago lose key role players to fit others in.

This time around, Crawford’s deal is very important. Chicago needs a goalie, and if they sign Crawford, they have one. Fans would like to see a new guy take over in goal, but we could be just a year away from that. Crawford could be getting his last contract with the Hawks this time around. If they planned on keeping him longer, they’d give him more than a one-year deal.

Another thing with the one-year deals is, if he plays longer, they can decrease the size of the contract each season. $3,500,000 is still a solid chunk of change.

To answer the question, does Crawford re-sign? Yes. I believe he does. It wouldn’t be smart for him to test the market. He would probably get the same amount of value but he would re-start on a different team. At his age, a new team isn’t ideal.

If he stays, my hope is he can play as well as he did in the playoffs and stay healthy. A healthy Crawford is still better than their other options, whether people want to admit it or not. I am curious to see what Collin Delia and Kevin Lankinen can do, but that’s a big risk, espically if this team is to be a playoff team in 2020-21.

"Blackhawks: Is $3.5M Too Much For Corey Crawford?"

Crawford stays for the 2020-21 NHL season. That’s my bold prediction.