Add Corey Crawford to the crowded list of unrestricted free agent goalies. On Thursday, Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said that the team will not be re-signing the 35-year-old goaltender.
“I had a conversation with Corey earlier today and it was an emotional talk,” Bowman said.
Crawford helped lead the franchise to two Stanley Cup titles and has been a mainstay in net since the 2010-11 NHL season. He won 260 games in 474 starts and is the Blackhawks’ leader in playoff wins with 52.
The decision to let Crawford walk is a signal that a youth movement is under way, even as Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews remain on the books for three more seasons.
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“Now that we’ve made the decision the way that we’re going to move forward [with youth], there’s going to be a lot more things that we’re going to talk about over the coming days as far as planning next year’s team,” Bowman said.
Per CapFriendly, the Blackhawks are a little more than $11 million under the salary cap ceiling ahead of Friday’s opening of free agency. Bowman still needs to re-sign Calder Trophy finalist Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Strome. This situation would be easier if not for Brent Seabrook and Andrew Shaw eating $10.775M of space for the next two seasons. (Seabrook’s $6.875M cap hit is there for three more seasons.)
As for replacements in net, Bowman did not qualify Malcolm Subban but did say he will try to sign him. It’s a crowded goalie market this offseason. Along with Crawford, Braden Holtby, Jacob Markstrom, Anton Khudobin, Jimmy Howard, and Craig Anderson are just a few of the names who will be available.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.