While Lawson Crouse isn’t the Utah Hockey Club’s most effective player, at least when you compare him to Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, and Nick Schmaltz in terms of points, it nonetheless shouldn’t make him any less effective.
Plus, Crouse has been one consistent scorer over the past three seasons, putting up 20-plus goals in each campaign starting in the 2021-22 season, and has not notched a shooting percentage below 13.9 percent in that same timeframe. But, you may ask, why doesn’t he put up more points?
That’s an excellent question, and it goes to show you that although accumulating points, specifically goals, is important when it comes to winning hockey games, there is something more important: How those goals are scored, and this is what makes Crouse so effective.
Lawson Crouse is the Utah Hockey Club’s best utility player
By ‘utility,’ I mean he’s the best player out there who can pretty much do everything well. Maybe jack of all trades is a more appropriate term, but I digress since it often means solid but unspectacular. Crouse is a step above that phrase, and that will continue in 2024-25 as he enters his age-27 season.
For one, he’s consistently putting up top-six minutes, and thus Crouse is also one of the team’s most physical forwards not relegated to a role on the bottom-six. Since his first full season in 2018-19, he’s even worked his way up from a bottom-six role to the top-six, and in doing so, has played better hockey, unfazed by the increase in ice time.
Best yet, since taking on a top-six role, Crouse’s Corsi For Percentage has slowly improved, going from 45.5 percent in 2021-22 to 48.6 percent last season. No, he hasn’t hit 50 percent yet, but keep this in mind: Since his dramatic increase in ice time starting in 2021-22, Crouse has also seen his offensive zone starting percentage in that same situation hover between 42.6 and 43.6.
These numbers reflect that he isn’t just helping to get the puck up the ice; he’s doing his part in helping his team score. Utah is in a much better position now than they were just a year ago and even a few years back during their waning days in Arizona, meaning Crouse will likely enjoy his best season yet in 2024-25.