New Jersey Devils player profile: Corey Crawford
New Jersey Devils player profile: Corey Crawford
Crawford's presence figures to give the Devils one of the best tandems in the NHL.
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When COVID-19 first shut down the NHL, and sports as a whole, I wrote player profiles for all the regulars, and semi-regulars, on the New Jersey Devils.
They’ve since added a handful of quality players to the organization. With most of the off-season fun behind us, and training camps still at least a couple of weeks away, I thought it’d be fun to profile the newcomers.
Thus far I’ve zeroed in on winger Andreas Johnsson and defenseman Ryan Murray. Today I’ll do the same for Corey Crawford, who signed a two-year deal with the Devils this off-season.
Counting stats: 40 games played, 16-20-3, .917 save percentage
5v5 underlyings: .926 save percentage, .864 high-danger save percentage, +7.52 Goals Saved Above Average
2019-20 review: Corey Crawford was nothing short of spectacular with Chicago last season. The Blackhawks were not a good team by any stretch of the imagination. They finished 23rd in points percentage, 23rd in wins, and ranked dead last in terms of expected goals and scoring chances against per 60 minutes. Their offense allowed them to sneak into the ‘playoffs’ but they were absolutely putrid defensively. Even so, Crawford still managed to post excellent numbers across the board.
His raw save percentage was way above league average (.905). He posted a quality start in 64% of his appearances. Again, well above what Hockey-Reference considers league average (53%). Crawford was also flat-out elite vs high-danger shots. His .864 HDSV% ranked him 5th among the 54 most used goaltenders in the league. Oh, and MoneyPuck.com had Crawford 7th in save percentage above expectation.
Regardless of the metrics you look at, Crawford comes out looking extremely good. For him to post such consistently strong numbers across the board on such a poor defensive team is remarkable to say the least. I don’t think Crawford gets enough recognition for how good he was last season.
Fun fact(s): Mackenzie Blackwood was one of four goaltenders to finish above Crawford in HDSV% at 5v5 last season…From 2017-20, 39 goaltenders played at least 4,000 minutes (5v5). Only two ranked ahead of Crawford in HDSV%. He is consistently elite at stopping the most difficult shots.
2020-21 outlook: Crawford is starting to get up there in age but I’m not concerned at all. He has posted a .917 SV% or better in seven of the last eight seasons – the last few of which were played behind a horrendous defensive side – and shown absolutely no signs of slowing down.
I don’t think it is a stretch to say he is the best 1B in the NHL (he is in the conversation at the very least). He is more than capable of keeping the Devils in games, especially if their team defense takes a step forward with the additions of Ryan Murray and, to a much lesser extent, Dmitry Kulikov; not to mention top prospect Ty Smith becoming a full-timer.
Barring injury to either netminder, I think Crawford will play ~40-45% of the Devils games this season and post numbers above league average.
I could certainly see the Devils ranking top-10 in team save percentage – perhaps even top-5. I believe they have two above average starters, and a fairly even split should help ensure they’re always fresh.
Numbers from NaturalStatTrick.com, Evolving-Hockey.com, MoneyPuck.com and Hockey-Reference.com.
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