Lawson Crouse’s Patience and Leadership During Mammoth Rebuild Pays Off in Playoffs – Hockey Writers – Utah Mammoth

Six years ago, Lawson Crouse played in his first playoff game. Most of the players swing out to large and noisy crowds, cheering on the home team. Crouse skated outside to be quiet except for the music and the sounds of skaters and puck shooters. The fans were not in the stands.

When his team won their playoff game against the Nashville Predators, Crouse couldn’t hit the streets to celebrate because he and the Arizona Coyotes were on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a completely different experience, especially without the fans, one Crouse laughed about as he is now six years old in the rearview mirror.

“Actually, we were in no condition to play because we were in Canada without fans,” said Crouse. “It was nice to get what the playoffs did back then in the NHL, but it was a really different year.”

It was Crouse’s last postseason game until this season. After the team was swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the first round, the Coyotes hired Bill Armstrong as general manager and embarked on a five-year rebuild.

For Crouse, he could have asked for a trade to Arizona like other players did. He had already gone through three losing seasons under former general manager John Chayka. Going through another five that wasn’t very strong would take years of Crouse’s career, where he could have competed for the Stanley Cup.

Yet Crouse persevered through it all, and six seasons later, he is one of the most important players in the Utah Mammoth’s locker room. One that is praised by coaches and players alike for his consistent leadership throughout the season.

Leadership Comes Naturally to Crouse

There are only four players left on the Mammoth roster who were on the Coyotes’ 2020 playoff roster. Only two players remain on the roster who were part of Chayka’s early rebuilding years. Those players are Clayton Keller and Crouse.

Crouse’s first pro season saw him play in 72 games with the Coyotes, which is very impressive for a guy who had only played in two American Hockey League (AHL) games last season. While he played most of the following season in the AHL, the following year, Crouse was no longer in the minors, playing the next six seasons exclusively for the Coyotes.

He became an integral part of the Coyotes in those six years. In his final three seasons with the Coyotes, Crouse scored 20 or more goals in each campaign, including a career-best 45-point season. Despite personal success, the team was still rebuilding. It’s not like Crouse liked playing on a rebuilding team, but he believed in what they were building.

“The Playoffs is where you want to be,” Crouse said. “That’s what you grind through a full hockey season to get to. Throughout my career, we’ve been through ups and downs and a lot of growing pains. It’s a really good feeling to finally get here.”

Suddenly, as an older player on a much younger team, Crouse found himself as someone the likes of Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther learned from. That was nothing new for Crouz.

Even as a child, the principles of leadership and being the best person you can be were instilled in Crouse. Because of his upbringing, being a leader came naturally to him. It’s something that even after he signed a five-year contract at the age of 24, he wanted to be.

“I just try to do things the right way, whether it’s hard work or trying to do the right thing, day in and day out, and be consistent,” Crouse said. That was preached to me at a very young age: be consistent, be a good person, and good things will happen.

If you ask any player in the Mammoth locker room about Crouse, they won’t have anything good to say about him. Take, for example, MacKenzie Weegar. The new Mammoth defenseman has only spent about two months in Salt Lake City, is four years older than Crouse, and has played in more than double the number of playoff games as Crouse. However, when asked about himself, Weegar couldn’t help but smile.

“He’s a great leader,” Weegar said. “He brought it all. He’s a guy who looks down on the bench when the game is tough, and quiets everybody down. He had a great game. I think he’s been waiting for this moment for a long time, so I’m happy for him, and I know he’s going to continue to play a good game.”

Last season, when the team played its first season in Utah, Crouse struggled. He scored only 12 goals and produced 18. For the first time in his career, he was healthy in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers. It was a challenging season, and Crouse was the first to admit it.

Crouse revealed that his mental game was not good enough, and he was struggling for most of the season. However, he wanted to fix himself, and sure enough, he did. In 81 games this season, he also hit the plateau with 20 goals, 24 assists and 44 points. He also found himself back on the front line alongside Keller and Nick Schmaltz, helping the line become a consistent line for the Mammoths throughout the season.

Throughout two seasons at Utah, despite a disappointing first year and a return to his game in his second, Crouse was the guy in the locker room he always said back in Arizona that he wanted to be. That’s what impresses head coach André Tourigny the most. Not the goals, not the points, but the leadership and the noble Crouse.

“He’s a hell of a man,” Tourigny said. “There is nothing I can ask of him that will be too small or too big for him … if I tell him to open the door tomorrow, he will open the door. No problem. Coach, pass the water. He will pass the water. There is no selfishness in that mentality. He will do whatever the team needs to win, whatever he needs to do to get better.”

He backs up his words in the postseason

That leadership came in large part in helping guide a young Mammoth team into the playoffs and into a tough and competitive series with the Vegas Golden Knights. In the first two games of the series, the top line of Keller, Schmaltz, and Crouse didn’t fare as well. As of the end of the 2024-25 season, Crouse had that, saying his line needs to improve.

Crouse doesn’t just say something for the sake of saying something. He backs up his words with action, and he did just that in Game 3, scoring two goals, including the game-winning goal to secure the Mammoth’s second win in the series.

The Crouser is coming in! 💰

3-0, Utah. pic.twitter.com/MVc54dsNea

— x – Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) April 25, 2026

It was an exciting time for Crouse as he got to play in front of his friends and family in the postseason for the first time in his career. His wife, Claire, who has supported him every step of the way and cared for their young daughter, Isabel, in his absence, expressed her happiness in an Instagram story that has already gone viral. His two goals were not just success for himself but the success of his entire family.

“They are our backbone,” Crouse said. “Everybody sees us on TV, but they don’t see what goes on behind the scenes and at night with the kids, a single parent for most of the season.”

I asked Lawson today if he saw Claire’s Instagram story.

“I did. He told me about it right away. Yeah, I thought that was funny.”#TusksUp https://t.co/k2VVErbXxT

– Chase Beardsley (@ChaseBeardsley_) April 26, 2026

Funnily enough, those two goals tied Crouse’s goal total since the 2020 playoffs. His second goal also broke his postseason scoring record.

Perhaps that’s a sign of how far Crouse has come in his career and in his life. In 2020, he was 22 years old, moving from one building to another. Now, at the age of 28, he is clinging to the context he relies on, something he didn’t have to do. That trust has paid off. Six years later, he’s back in the playoffs, playing the best hockey of his life, and enjoying the rest of his career.

Reflecting on his journey, Crouse is not only proud of himself for seeing the rebuild, but also of other players like Keller and Schmaltz, who have done the same thing. He is proud of his accomplishments as a leader and person, and is excited about the bright future ahead.

“I’m very proud of the team, but I’m most proud of the one day that we fought the most,” Crouse said. “We went through a lot of pain to get here, so I’m looking forward to continuing to play in the playoffs.”

If Crouse had requested a trade from the organization years and years ago, sure enough, the Mammoths probably would have made the playoffs at the same time he did. However, the locker room is stronger with Crouse’s leadership. The Mammoth captain does more than meets the eye on the ice, and is a big reason why the team is as good as it is.