|
Bowman said he talked with Crawford, 35,
earlier on Thursday to inform him of the team's decision.
Crawford can become an unrestricted free agent on Friday.
"I had a conversation with Corey earlier today and it was an
emotional talk," Bowman said. "The message to Corey and to
everyone is that we've decided we have some young goaltenders in
Chicago we believe in, much like Corey (in 2010). We have a
couple young goalies in (Kevin) Lankinen and (Collin) 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 moving forward."
Crawford backstopped the Blackhawks to Stanley Cup championships
in 2013 and 2015. He also captured the William M. Jennings
Trophy in those seasons, sharing the honor with then-teammate
Ray Emery in 2013 and with Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens
in 2015.
Crawford posted a 16-20-3 record with one shutout, a 2.77
goals-against average and .917 save percentage in 40 appearances
last season. He was playing in the last season of a six-year,
$36-million deal.
Crawford has a 260-162-53 mark with 26 shutouts, a 2.45 GAA and
.918 SP in 488 career games since being selected by the
Blackhawks in the second round of the 2003 NHL Draft.
His win total trails only Hockey Hall of Famers Tony Esposito
(418) and Glenn Hall (276) in franchise history.
Lankinen, 25, has yet to play in the NHL while Delia, 26, owns a
7-5-3 record with a 3.65 GAA and .906 SP in 18 career games.
--Field Level Media
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
