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Corey Crawford Reveals What Will Keep Him With Blackhawks

Goaltender Corey Crawford spoke candidly about what it will take for him to reconsider signing with the Chicago Blackhawks.

There will be many eyes on Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford this offseason. A pending unrestricted free agent, speculation is that the Blackhawks would like to re-sign him to another deal, but in order to do so, he’ll need to take a hefty pay cut.

A $6 million goaltender this past season, the word is that Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman wants Crawford to drop down to as low as the $3 to $4 million range to make his contract work with the team’s salary cap restrictions. That seems like an awfully steep decrease even if players coming up for contract renewals across the board will have to drop their asking prices.

The good news for Chicago is that Crawford says the money is secondary in his decision-making. Instead, his primary objective is to win and be the starter. He explained when talking to Tracey Myers of NHL.com:

“Going into the meeting, that’s the main thing is to win a championship, to play, to be the main guy and play a lot. Salary, that can be discussed. That’s something that is not as important at this time. We’ll see how those discussions go.”

Crawford added that he’ll likely need some assurances he’ll play. He told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, “I don’t want to play half the games and sit on the bench for stretches at a time. My value is just not as good doing that.”

Crawford knows he’s more valuable playing consistently so where he signs will need to have told him he’ll get a good chunk of the starts next season. “It really depends on how much I’m going to be used,” he noted.

Related: Crawford Expected to Take Home-Town Discount to Stay With Blackhawks

The Blackhawks Have Choices

Crawford is scheduled to meet with the Blackhawks GM this week to see if Chicago will give him the answers he’s looking for. Bowman notes that goaltending is the team’s “top priority” and that getting it “situated for next year” is taking most of his attention. He just doesn’t know if that means Crawford is part of the equation or not. “But I don’t have that mapped out right now,” Bowman said.

And, the Blackhawks’ future might not have Crawford in it.

This year’s goaltender market is flooded with UFAs. Names like Robin Lehner, Braden Holtby and Jacob Markstrom top most team’s lists but will likely cost too much. Other options could be Thomas Greiss, Cam Talbot or Anton Khudobin, but the question will be if they are upgrades over Crawford.

If Crawford is willing to take less to win, the question becomes whether or not he believes the Blackhawks can add the pieces around him to contend. And, if they can add those pieces, if he’ll be their regular backstop.

Next: Dale Tallon Being Investigated For Racially Insensitive Remarks

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