Edited Oct. 29, 2021 at 3:02 a.m.
Quoting: TooMalevolent
He absolutely can not take a regular shift in any situation. He is dreadful defensively. Engvall is substantially better than him defensively. He definitely hits more than Engvall and is tougher and a better forechecker, and if that's what you think the leafs need and want to replace Engvall, I get it, but you are also trading away a 2nd in the deal which is actually a high pick (I would still take my chances today that the leafs could develop that 2nd into a better player down the road than Crouse, or trade it in a package for something far better), and a very serviceable dman. And maybe even a player that could develop into that low salary forechecker down the road (not sure). That's a ton for a guy that is not that good.
Dude, his coach trusts him in every situation, PP, PK, last minute of the game, you name it! I know a lot of fans just look at size and hitting and immediately want that player on their team. I'm not one of them. Below is a comp of their Rel stats to date this season. Keep in mind QoC is not factored in here which would favor Crouse even more. The numbers don't lie. He's off to a nice start this season. On top of that Crouse does indeed bring a ton of more intensity, leadership and hard forechecking which happens to be exactly what we need to compliment what we have in place now. Coyotes know his value and would likely have to overpay to get him. Lyubushkin is another guy we need as a more physical stabilizing force on d. We also don't have time to develop a guy to do what Crouse does. The Leafs time is now and the status quo will not cut it. They need to pull out all the stops now with the current nucleus.
Pierre Engvall Lawson Crouse
8 GP 7
109.97 TOI 121.57
13.75 TOI/GP 17.37
-4.02 CF/60 Rel 8.51
-0.99 CA/60 Rel -3.94
-1.03 CF% Rel 6.03
0.61 FF/60 Rel 8.53
-0.98 FA/60 Rel -8.95
0.89 FF% Rel 11.11
5.46 SF/60 Rel 6.97
1.72 SA/60 Rel -4.69
2.42 SF% Rel 10.28
0.27 GF/60 Rel 1.08
0.95 GA/60 Rel -1.88
-3.64 GF% Rel 21.08
0.04 xGF/60 Rel 0.27
0.62 xGA/60 Rel -0.83
-4.93 xGF% Rel 12.89
0.22 SCF/60 Rel 5.3
-2.22 SCA/60 Rel -2.8
1.97 SCF% Rel 8.79
5.71 On-Ice SH% 7.94
87.72 On-Ice SV% 87.27
0.934 PDO 0.952
4.36 Off. Zone Starts/60 13.33
15.28 Neu. Zone Starts/60 16.29
13.09 Def. Zone Starts/60 11.35
54.56 On The Fly Starts/60 38.5
25 Off. Zone Start % 54
8.73 Off. Zone Faceoffs/60 24.18
21.28 Neu. Zone Faceoffs/60 19.25
23.46 Def. Zone Faceoffs/60 18.76
27.12 Off. Zone Faceoff % 56.32
Source: Natural Stat Trick