[RE-SIGNING] Lawson Crouse

[2014olympicgold]

5yr, $4.3m aav with Arizona

[Pengwin7]

Yuck.
IMO - this contract only looks good if the NHL cap climbs (steadily/significantly) each of next 5 years.
I don't see many NHL teams interested in this player - and a cap hit should be good enough to move the player in final year(s).

Crouse is a big body that can put 15-20 pucks in a net and a guy into the boards.
That's about all I've seen from him on the ice. Not enough, IMO, for $4.3m.

[pmorrow]

Hazard pay for staying with the coyotes for 5 years

[als_revenge]

I like Crouse as a solid 3 line player, but yeah, not at that price. I wonder if reaching the cap floor has anything to do with this.

[stevegamer]

I like Crouse as a solid 3 line player, but yeah, not at that price. I wonder if reaching the cap floor has anything to do with this.

I think it has a LOT to do with this. This is a Chuck Fletcher level bad contract, I think.

[als_revenge]

I think it has a LOT to do with this. This is a Chuck Fletcher level bad contract, I think.

For kicks, I tried to find a comparable this year. Closest I could find is 5 years x 4.5 for ARTTURI LEHKONEN. Which is interesting, when you look at their roles and numbers.

[metaldude26]

I can see how they got to this number. Several players in comparable positions with comparable numbers like Kapanen and Puljujarvi signed short term deals for $3M AAV, which is where this likely would have landed in arbitration had they let it go there (player was asking $4M, team was asking $2.5M). Instead, Arizona decided to buy up a few UFA and get Crouse locked up until he's 30.

There's definitely an element where the rising cap helps make this look good. But also, the Coyotes have to keep some good players around for whenever the next core arrives.

I also suppose it depends on how much you think of the player. Was last year's career year (20 G/34 P in 65 games) a fluke built on a career high shooting percentage (15.3% in 2022 vs. career 10.2%), a career best 2nd assist percentage (35% - very low but still a career best) and a career best usage (17 mins/game, 2 PP mins/game) or was it a large player finally coming into his own, earning those minutes and getting more involved on a team that finally scored at a league-average rate with him on the ice for the first time in his career? There are a lot of red flags here, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that his numbers are almost identical to those of Kassian (15 G/34 P in 59 games) the year he signed his instantly regrettable deal under the same premise of not wanting to watch competent players leave.

He basically needs to repeat last year's numbers to play up to this number so it is rich. I don't know that it's prohibitive in trades. Provided he doesn't go full Kassian and immediately revert to 4th line skills, then Crouse will retain value league-wide, and provided a willingness to eat half the deal then he'd be appealing at $2.15M. If the Coyotes are thinking about moving Crouse by the end of this deal it also likely means that another group has failed and that this contract is someone else's problem. Those circumstances are how teams get themselves into perpetual trouble.

I do like the player, but this contract really is hard to like even if he could play up to it.

[niconasr]

For kicks, I tried to find a comparable this year. Closest I could find is 5 years x 4.5 for ARTTURI LEHKONEN. Which is interesting, when you look at their roles and numbers.

I don't think any GM in their right mind would take Crouse over Lekhonen. They're very different players for sure but one significantly drives play in whichever role you put him while the other needs significant usage and puck luck to return average numbers.