Since being in the valley, Arizona Coyotes left wing Lawson Crouse has embodied being a “heart and sole” figure involved with the organization.

Crouse was originally drafted 11th overall by the Florida Panthers in the 2015 NHL Draft.

However, Crouse’s tenure as a Panther didn’t last long.

On Aug. 25, 2016, he was flipped to the Coyotes, along with former center Dave Bolland, for a conditional seventh round draft pick in 2017 and a third in 2018.

At the time, it looked as if Arizona were just taking on a dead contract.

Unfortunately, Bolland’s career was pretty much over after suffering a lingering back injury.

But, the trade has aged very well for the Coyotes as the former first round pick in Crouse has emerged as one of the franchise’s cornerstones in the desert.

As A Coyote

In his first season in 2016-17, Crouse was down on the fourth line and played in 72 games while only having 12 points.

Furthermore, he would relatively get around 11-14 minutes of ice-time until the 2021-22 season.

Up to the second line, Crouse’s production for Arizona sky-rocketed to 20 goals and 14 assists in 65 games.

Moving forward, Crouse was with center Nick Bjugstad and rookie at the time, Matias Maccelli, last year.

Right from the get-go, the three’s chemistry has been very apparent.

Crouse would average 17:45 of time-on-ice and set a career high in points with 45 (24 goals, 21 assists).

Also, Crouse hasn’t had a season with less than 155 hits since 2016-17 when he only suited-up for 11 games as a ‘Yote.

Additionally, Maccelli had a breakout season as he scored 11 goals and assisted 38 times for 49 points in 64 contests.

Those stats got Maccelli into the Calder Trophy running for Rookie of the Year.

This year, Crouse got off to a slow start.

Through his first five games, Crouse did not have a point.

But, something changed.

Immediately, Crouse has scored four goals and 3 assists in his last five contests and looks to be back on track, if not even better.

So far, Crouse is averaging three shots-on-goal a game and looks to keep firing more.