Arizona Coyotes’ Lawson Crouse Trade Already Paying Off
By Alex Temes
The Arizona Coyotes took on a lot of dead money during the course of the offseason, but the team’s moves with the salary cap are already paying off with Lawson Crouse’s preseason performance.
When Arizona Coyotes General Manger John Chayka was hired early in the offseason, he vowed he would aggressively pursue any avenue in an effort to improve the team.
Chayka has lived up to his promise.
He went after Alex Goligoski before free agency began and sold the veteran defenseman before he had a chance to hear what other teams had to offer. Chayka broke into the free agent market and signed veteran players like Radim Vrbata and Jamie McGinn.
But most importantly, he made some audacious trades.
Within three months of becoming the youngest GM in NHL history, Chayka ate almost $11 million in dead cap space, propelling the Coyotes to their first experience near the top, rather than the bottom, of the salary cap.
Yet in the process of eating dead money, Chayka got three first round picks in the form of Lawson Crouse, Jakob Chychrun, and Anthony DeAngelo, who only put the Coyotes back a second round pick.
And even though Crouse comes with that dead money, he’s shown he may be worth every cent so far.
Crouse, in only a few weeks, went from a likely OHL player in the Florida organization to an Opening Night roster player with the Arizona Coyotes. He had such a strong showing in rookie camp that the coaching staff was singing praise for his two-way, aggressive play.
The staff constantly noted throughout the course of training camp and the preseason games that Crouse’s skating and size were NHL-caliber.
His results showed that praise to be true as well.
He collected over 20 hits during the course of his preseason campaign, resulting in an assist and a half dozen takeaways. Crouse made the players around him better, killed penalties and blocked shots.
He showed NHL grit and toughness.
And not only did Crouse carry himself with confidence on the ice, he had the same personality in the locker room. He was confident in his play like any other young player, but the trade that brought him to the Arizona Coyotes humbled him and he was happy to make it past the first cuts.
While Crouse may not be proven in an NHL game just yet, he’s already shown why Dave Bolland‘s $5.5M dollar cap hit was worth it.
Crouse fought his way onto the roster. He beat out top Arizona prospects like Christian Fischer and Conor Garland for a spot on the NHL team by highlighting a role that the Coyotes had failed to draft in recent years; young grit.
Like Jakub Chychrun, Crouse entered an organization full of talent and rose above it.
#67 not only deserves a roster spot, he deserves more than the 9-game audition many fans think he’ll receive.
Next: Chayka Sheds Aging Veterans To Build Better, Younger Coyotes Roster
Crouse has the kind of talents that the Arizona Coyotes have been searching for since 2011-2012.
He also has the grit that they’ve had throughout those down years, only this time at a more reasonable price and with potential to back it up.