Corey Crawford Won't Be Re-Signed by Blackhawks After 14 Seasons, GM Says

Veteran goaltender Corey Crawford won't be back with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Crawford is a free agent this offseason, and Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman confirmed the team doesn't intend to offer him a new contract:

The 35-year-old has spent his entire career in the Windy City. Chicago selected him in the second round of the 2003 NHL entry draft.

This comes after the Blackhawks selected goaltender Drew Commesso with the 46th overall pick in the 2020 draft. Collin Delia and Kevin Lankinen are 26 and 25 years old, respectively, as well.

Bowman told reporters how the franchise is looking to give an internal replacement an opportunity rather than targeting a veteran netminder to replace Crawford.

"The message to Corey and to everyone else today is that we've decided we have some young goaltenders here in Chicago we believe in. Much like Corey needed that opportunity when he came up after the 2010 season, we have a couple young goalies in Lankinen and Delia who we haven't given a real opportunity to. With where we're headed, the NHL is relying more and more on young players. We're going to embrace that going forward."

As Bowman alluded to, the Blackhawks are headed for a period of transition—if they aren't already in one. They missed the playoffs in 2018 and 2019 and would've missed the postseason again in 2020 had the NHL not adopted a modified playoff format to restart the year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

From a sentimental perspective, it would have been nice to see Crawford stay in Chicago and perhaps end his career there. Pragmatically, it makes sense to give younger, more inexpensive players an opportunity between the pipes.

Crawford continues to be an effective goaltender when healthy. He had a .917 save percentage and 2.77 goals-against average in 40 appearances last season.

Staying on the ice has been a problem, though. The 2016-17 campaign was the last time he played in 50-plus games.

The market for free-agent goaltenders is pretty robust, with Jacob Markstrom and Braden Holtby two of the best options available. Still, Crawford should garner a lot of interest throughout the league based on his performance and reputation.