The Blackhawks recently made a pretty bold move by extending goalie Corey Crawford for 6 seasons. Crawford was very good this past season, being a huge part of the success the Blackhawks had all season, and when the playoffs came around he turned it up yet another level. There is no doubt that Crawford earned himself some major money with the quality of his play throughout this past season. However, was it too much? Is the contract for too long?
My answer is a simple no as far as the length of the contract goes. Goaltenders tend to last longer than almost any other position in all of sports. Sure, it's a demanding position to play, but it's one where players can age well at the position as well. As long as he takes care of himself, I have no problem believing he'll still be an effective goaltender in 6 years at the age of 35. It's actually right about the perfect age for the extension to end, if you ask me.
However, the money is pretty good for Crawford. Before this season Crawford had shown signs of being a good goalie, but he had never consistently delivered. It wasn't until this season that there was the vast majority of the season, very good play, with the inconsistencies only being occasional to uncommon. Was this just a good season, or has he turned a corner?
Given that goaltenders tend to take a long time to develop, I'm optimistic that he's turned a corner. A lot of goalies don't really hit their stride until their late 20's, and it's far from impossible that this is the case with Crawford. Even some of the greats like Belfour and Hasek were in their mid to late 20's before they even became regulars between the pipes. Crawford is by no means at that level, but him continuing his recent success is something I feel fairly common with.
One of the questions that this brought up to me was about Antti Raanta. Raanta was signed shortly after the Blackhawks won the cup. He was signed to a developmental deal, and depending on who you talk to, may wind up being a very good goalie himself. He, or one of the other young goalies in the Blackhawks system may wind up as a backup before too long, as at least for the coming season that spot looks to be Khabibulin's.
This only brings up yet another interesting point, Crawford will be going from the main guy, but with a backup that will get a lot of starts still, to being an clear cut, no questions asked, #1 goalie. This is another reason to really say that Crawford will be worth the money on the contract.
To more summarize and bring some structure back to this, the bottom line is that, for a goalie, Crawford will not be old when this extension comes to an end. He won't be young by any means, but goalies are far from over, for the most part, at age 35. The money is a little bit steep, but there's a good chance that he has turned a corner rather than just had a very good season. Considering the struggles the Blackhawks had waiting for Crawford to develop after letting Niemi go after winning the championship in 2010, it's good that the Blackhawks are actually spending a little bit on keeping a developed goalie. I feel like this contract will wind up being a very good thing for the Blackhawks.
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