Corey Crawford took a break during the festivities surrounding his day with the Stanley Cup to do a little business that will make him one of the NHL's highest-paid goaltenders beginning with the 2014-15 season.
Crawford agreed to a six-year contract extension with the Blackhawks on Monday, the same day he had the Cup in his hometown of Montreal to celebrate backstopping the Hawks to their second championship in four years.
"Being able to get a chance to bring the Cup back home (with) all the people I played minor hockey with and grew up with and all my family was pretty special to start off - to add this on top of it is amazing," Crawford said. "I want to be in Chicago for my whole career and this is amazing to be able to do this and get this deal done."
Crawford's new contract - which is for a reported $36 million and will more than double his current salary - runs through the end of the 2019-20 season. When the extension kicks in to start '14-15, the $6 million cap hit per season will put him among the highest-paid NHL goalies.
The Bruins' Tuukka Rask and Predators' Pekka Rinne will have cap hits of $7 million in '14-15 with the Canadiens' Carey Price at $6.5 million and the Hurricanes' Cam Ward at $6.3 million. The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist, whose hit will be $6.875 million this season, and the Sabres' Ryan Miller, who costs $6.25 million against the cap, will be unrestricted free agents in 2014-15.
Of that group, only Ward joins Crawford as a team's primary goalie to capture a Stanley Cup.
"It's more of a confidence the team has in me to try and repeat and go for more championships in the future," Crawford said of the extension. "I'm not going to put any extra pressure on myself. I'm just going to compete hard like I've always done."
Now 28, Crawford will be 35 when the contract expires, an age when goalies can still be at the top of their game. In recent years, Tim Thomas was 37 when he helped the Bruins win the 2011 Cup and Chris Osgood was 35 when he led the Red Wings to the '08 title.
Thomas was 36 when he won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie for the '10-11 season, Martin Brodeur of the Devils was 35 when he nabbed the trophy for the '07-08 season and Dominik Hasek was 36 when he won it for the 2000-01 Sabres.
The long-term investment in Crawford is a departure from Stan Bowman's history with goalies, but the Hawks GM believes it's worth it for a goalie who came into his own during '13 and now has a Cup on his resume.
"The reality is, we need to have a top-notch goaltender in our organization and we have one right in-house here with Corey," Bowman said. "We know him well. He's grown up with our organization and he's earned the ultimate with our group. There was never a question in our minds that we want to commit to him. It's the most important position we have and we have a lot of faith in his ability to continue. He's a young goalie and he's certainly worked hard to get himself to the NHL. He's proven he can do it at the highest level."
Bowman said signing Crawford to a long-term deal always was part of the plan and the main impetus for letting Antti Niemi become a free agent following the Hawks' run to the Cup in '10. The cap figures to rise - perhaps dramatically - in the years after the '13-14 season when it will be $64.3 million. The additional cap space will be needed when the Hawks can enter negotiations on extensions for forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane beginning next July.
Crawford combined with Ray Emery in '13 to win the William M. Jennings Trophy as the tandem with the top goaltending in the league. After a regular season during which he went 19-5-5 with a 1.94 goals-against average and .926 save percentage, Crawford was at his best in the playoffs when he posted a 16-7 record, 1.84 goals-against and .932 save percentage.
The deal capped a stretch in Crawford's life in which he got engaged, helped the Hawks to the Cup, attended Team Canada's Olympic orientation camp and had his day with the cherished trophy.
"It's just been getting better and better," Crawford said. "I'm on a bit of a high right now and hopefully I don't come down from it. The last couple of months have been great."
Twitter @ChrisKuc