Corey Crawford takes indefinite leave from New Jersey Devils
Outside of Mackenzie Blackwood, goaltending once again appears to be a big question mark.
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The New Jersey Devils already faced an uphill battle in trying to make the playoffs, or be competitive, in a stacked East Division.
The climb continues to get steeper as the season approaches.
Nico Hischier has a wonky ankle that *could* force him to miss time; or play at less than 100%.
RFA winger Jesper Bratt remains in Sweden without a contract and won’t be available for at least the first couple games of the season. With each passing day, the amount of time he’ll miss only grows larger.
And now the Devils have a gaping hole in net behind Mackenzie Blackwood.
After missing a fifth consecutive practice this morning, the Devils sent out a press release announcing Corey Crawford – who appeared to be the perfect fit to platoon with Blackwood – will be out of the picture for the foreseeable future.
The press release they sent out reads as follows:
New Jersey has officially announced that goaltender Corey Crawford has taken an indefinite leave of absence due to personal reasons.
There isn’t much detail there, of course, but that is perfectly understandable given the nature of the situation. It is nobody’s business what is going on with Crawford or his family.
The most important thing is that they’re all OK – and if they’re not, that they can get or find necessary help to become so.
With regards to how this impacts the Devils…greatly so.
Over the last few years Blackwood has been the only guy able to give the team anything resembling competent goaltending. They desperately needed to find somebody else who could. With Crawford out of the mix, they need to do so again.
There is only one problem: next to nobody is available.
Much like last season, the Devils are in a situation where they have to throw darts with fringe players – like Louis Domingue – and hope something sticks.
Maybe Scott Wedgewood or Gilles Senn will get opportunities. Maybe the Devils will look back to free agency – Jimmy Howard, while terrible last year, posted (slightly) above league average numbers in 2018-19 and is still available – to fill the spot.
I don’t know what the solution is. There doesn’t appear to be a good one – at least relative to Crawford – looking them in the face.
But if the Devils don’t find somebody, they might well find themselves picking atop the draft for the third time in five years.
And, honestly, that might not be the worst thing. With all the things working against the team early on, the hopes of accomplishing much this season could be gone before it begins.
Accepting that might be best for the long-term future of the team.
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Total bummer. I hope Crawford and his family are okay. The Devils, unfortunately, have no shot now to make the playoffs. They didn't have much of one before, but I figured the games would be competitive. This is just a total downer all around.
Feel bad for Crawford but this makes the Schneider buyout look like an even worse idea