Lawson Crouse Signs Five-Year Extension With Arizona Coyotes

It was reported that the Arizona Coyotes and Lawson Crouse have come to an agreement on his restricted free agency. His arbitration hearing was set for tomorrow and, as is with most cases, a signing gets done before the arbitration takes place. He has signed a significant five-year deal worth $4.3 million AAV. The team had offered $2.5M, and Crouse wanted $4M. He definitely will need to live up to this contract now since he got more than he wanted.

Lawson Crouse has signed a five-year extension with the @ArizonaCoyotes, per @FriedgeHNIC. ✍️

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Thoughts on the deal? 🤔 #NHLFreeAgency pic.twitter.com/bE5M3sRmgh

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 8, 2022

Lawson Crouse Signs Five-Year Extension For $4.3 Million AAV

Crouse is coming off his first 20-goal season, one in which he was an impressive blend of size, physicality, and scoring touch. Those 20 goals and 34 points came in just 65 games, along with his 181 hits. He had been the subject of trade rumors as a player with his size and ability was peaking the interest of other NHL teams. This deal puts him past his RFA days and solidifies his future in the desert.

Even with this signing, the Coyotes still have the most cap space in the NHL with $20.3 million. They still need to sign their fifth overall selection from 2018, Barrett Hayton. The signing of Crouse adds him to a very small list of players on the Coyotes’ roster to possess a contract for more than three years. That list includes forwards Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz. The team is still deep in a rebuild, but adding Crouse has surely helped their outlook once they come out of the rebuild.

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Going Forward

According to Coyotes’ insider Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports, here is the breakdown of the contract for Crouse.

Year-by year breakdown of Lawson Crouse's 5-year extension ($4.3M AAV), per league source:

Year 1: $3.6M
Year 2: $4.6M
Year 3: $4.6M
Year 4: $4.8M
Year 5: $3.8M https://t.co/xuVtK59IAr

— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) August 8, 2022

Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong had this to say about signing Crouse:

“We are very pleased to sign Lawson to a long-term contract. He is a big, strong, skilled power forward and we look forward to him being a big part of our future.”

Going forward, the Coyotes will be a rather big team who can use their physical play to not only protect their smaller forwards, but intimidate opponents. They will be a tough team to play against as they build for the future — a future now that will include Lawson Crouse.