Except he's not that great a skater and his hands are terrible , he's 29 years old and played all 11 years of his pro career on the 4th line , he's never cracked a top 9 let alone a top 6 slot and thers zero chance of him ever getting any better . Better guys than him are a dime a dozen , we could have had Kovalchuk twice this year for nothing signed at league minimum but passed , just because our mangement team and your expert eyes don't see these guys doesn't mean they aren't out there and if you think Clifford is fit to even carry Kovi's jock strap then theres really no point discussing anything with you , you'll just drag me down to your level and beat me with experience . We unfortunately will probably re-sign this pylon not because of any perceived ability on his part but rather because he was Dumbas's first client as an agent . 61 goals 132 points in the NHL over an 11 year career ! yeah thats the guy we should piss away picks and cap to re-sign riiiiiiight .
We don't need any more skater boys with hands. We have plenty of them. Hockey requires the correct match of skills. D partners need to be a match. Forward lines need to be a match. Too many people just look at analytics alone on a per player basis. Well that is a recipe for disaster in hockey. It has worked for successful Stanley Cup teams for many years. Shutt played with Guy. Gilles played with bossy. Tik played with Kurri. Wilson plays with Ovi. Hyman plays with Marner/Willy it does not matter.
What too many people forgot is you need guys who can get pucks from the other team. And best way to do it is on the forecheck. And you need guys who can play a shift without other team taking da play to you for entire shift. Most of game the shifts are pretty simple. Don't let your guy get behind you to beat you.
Our biggest 3 issues on Leafs are sustaining pressure in others teams end AND getting cycled continuously in our end AND our PK is horrific. Clifford and Hyman and an aggressive Matty and Kappy seem to be creating some forecheck although we need another guy or two to assist. Outside Muzzy we can't stop a cycle. So we need another vet guy or two who can assist. and Mitch although we all love him is not da correct guy for our PK. we need more than just Hyman. this is where we missed Brown most. but we need another guy to help out.
Bottom line a TEAM needs to be created which gives us da right pieces to deal with our shortfalls.
Clifford contributes on 4th line on forecheck and also gives others on our team an ability to get more aggressive because they don't worry about Wilson running around and beating on people. Now Tom knows ok if i whack Matty then Muzzy is going to jump me and Muzzy knows if he gets beat that Clifford is his backup. and ultimately no one really wants to get hit with a right hook from either. so it does police da game. We are much better off as a team with Clifford. It was obvious the first day he took da ice. Cheap shots on our guys STOPPED immediately.
