Former Bruins Connor Clifton

[Alicat]

i think Clifton has Binnington’s number. I wonder why....

 

[Trizz617]

We lose Krug, we lose our transition game, our power play entry and power play dominance. He’s the last guy we can afford to lose unless we are rebuilding. He drives this team from the backend. Not sure how people can consider him expendable. Pay him and move on.

We need to keep Krug, Carlo, McAvoy. We need to fight like hell to keep Grizz and Clifton. We need to part ways with Miller and Chara (although the latter will never happen).

A good issue for management to have, truly. Say we decide to keep 5 guys as the main D corps(Krug, Carlo, Mac, Grizz and Clifton). There are still 3 promising D in Vak, Lauzon & Zboril, who could probably play top 6 on a couple of teams right now. 1 spot for 3 guys? Question is who takes that spot.

 

[rocketdan9]

We lose Krug, we lose our transition game, our power play entry and power play dominance. He’s the last guy we can afford to lose unless we are rebuilding. He drives this team from the backend. Not sure how people can consider him expendable. Pay him and move on.

We need to keep Krug, Carlo, McAvoy. We need to fight like hell to keep Grizz and Clifton. We need to part ways with Miller and Chara (although the latter will never happen).

Disagree

One D cant do this all

 

[ap3lovr]

I dont think anyone thought Clifton would play himself into this team this year. Just shocked at how composed he is on the ice in these playoffs. Wonder why the cyotes decided not to sign him. I also wonder what scout in the org pushed for him?

 

[Dellstrom]

I dont think anyone thought Clifton would play himself into this team this year. Just shocked at how composed he is on the ice in these playoffs. Wonder why the cyotes decided not to sign him. I also wonder what scout in the org pushed for him?

Player scouting this year has been absolutely phenomenal. Nordstrom, Wagner, Coyle, MoJo, Clifton... Give em a raise

 

[missingchicklet]

In a year of many pleasant surprises, Clifton has been up there among my favorites. He seems to have pretty quickly become a fan favorite, for obvious reasons. Can't say enough about how impressive the guy has been in the playoffs. He has played these playoffs like he has been there many times before. Cool thing about Clifton is that he is valuable against about any style of team thrown at him. Such a versatile player. I cannot wait to watch him improve over the coming seasons now that he has some regular season and playoff games under his belt.

 

[TD Charlie]

Kid came out of nowhere and earned his spokes.

He’s taken a few penalties during this run that i think they can clean up, but overall he’s been more than trustworthy. Such a great feeling when the third pair or depth defenders step on the ice during a Cup Final game and i have nothing but faith in them.

 

[00BW]

Clifton is a great example of how player development timelines vary. He has always been known as a hockey gambler, always joining the rush offensively regardless of consequences. McAvoy was actually a bit like this too but he took the Bruins coaching staff advice right away and was playing 26 minutes a night in the playoffs at 19. Clifton seems to have not been taking the advice for years but really seems to have finally matured and bought into the Bruins style they've been teaching him for almost 2 years now: be responsibly and only go when the opportunity for success is very high. At 24, he's on a 5 year slower development curve than McAvoy but both are here in the finals, 2 wins away from ultimate victory.

I'd also say he's a good example of someone that takes some time before the offense shows up in the NHL. 19 games in the regular season with just 1 assist but 15 games into the post season he has 2G and 3A. There's no reason he can't be a 30 goal scorer in the NHL next year even with 3rd pair minutes and that is incredibly powerful depth.

 

[JoeIsAStud]

Clifton is a great example of how player development timelines vary. He has always been known as a hockey gambler, always joining the rush offensively regardless of consequences. McAvoy was actually a bit like this too but he took the Bruins coaching staff advice right away and was playing 26 minutes a night in the playoffs at 19. Clifton seems to have not been taking the advice for years but really seems to have finally matured and bought into the Bruins style they've been teaching him for almost 2 years now: be responsibly and only go when the opportunity for success is very high. At 24, he's on a 5 year slower development curve than McAvoy but both are here in the finals, 2 wins away from ultimate victory.

I'd also say he's a good example of someone that takes some time before the offense shows up in the NHL. 19 games in the regular season with just 1 assist but 15 games into the post season he has 2G and 3A. There's no reason he can't be a 30 goal scorer in the NHL next year even with 3rd pair minutes and that is incredibly powerful depth.

30 point man, not goal scorer, and it is a possibility.

Honestly Clifton has passed Gryz in my eyes during this playoffs. He is just do physical, and tough (despite the size), and the skating, and PMD skills are there

 

[00BW]

30 point man, not goal scorer, and it is a possibility.

Honestly Clifton has passed Gryz in my eyes during this playoffs. He is just do physical, and tough (despite the size), and the skating, and PMD skills are there

Haha, yeah, I meant point scorer. lol

 

[neelynugs]

congrats to cliffy, that's a nice deal for player and team

 

[BruinDust]

congrats to cliffy, that's a nice deal for player and team

Also a nice deal for Seattle when the time comes. Will be hard for them to find better value off the Bruins list of unprotected players.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

if they now have Clifton for expansion... I wonder if they trade BOTH moore AND miller

protecting McAvoy/carlo/krug/grezlyck? or does gryz get exposed too?

if both miller and moore get dealt... it opens room for one of lauzon/zboril/vaakanainen to make the team this year and personally with 3 of them knocking on the door I think thats not a bad idea

McAvoy/grezlyck
carlo/chara {with the kid helping with load management}
Clifton/krug
kampfer/kid

thats still a very adequate top 8 defense for this next regular season

 

[bob27]

I'm not necessarily as high on Clifton as many posters here, but that's a great contract. All reward with barely any risk. Should've done something similar with Grzelcyk.

 

[BruinsBtn]

This year at less than $1m and 3 more years after that at $1m.

Oh man that's a good one. Clifton is legit.

 

[corpfan1]

Does anyone know if this is a one-way or two-way deal and whether he is RFA or UFA at the end?

 

[Dicky113]

This gives them a lot of options with the rest of the D

 

[ODAAT]

solid number and term

 

[00BW]

725k - 1m - 1m - 1m
Is still waivers exempt this year and will turn 27 at the end of his contract.

I look forward to see how free he becomes this season with puck rushing. It would not surprise me to see Chara pair with him for 3rd pair minutes.

 

[KnightofBoston]

Insanely good deal

 

[Alicat]

Love the deal.

 

[wintersej]

Steal.

 

[CharaBadSenyshynGawd]

Hate to bring any kind of negativity but he was REALLY bad during much of the finals. But he showed a lot of flashes offensively and was willing to play the body.

For a mil it’s a no brainer. If he turns into anything more than a #7 that’s a steal.

 

[False Start]

Hate to bring any kind of negativity but he was REALLY bad during much of the finals. But he showed a lot of flashes offensively and was willing to play the body.

For a mil it’s a no brainer. If he turns into anything more than a #7 that’s a steal.

I mean you can tell he's definitely a more effective regular season player, where the intensity varies much more.

He'll need to find another level once we get to the playoffs but for now he's still a very useful piece in our defense.

 

[CharaBadSenyshynGawd]

I mean you can tell he's definitely a more effective regular season player, where the intensity varies much more.

He'll need to find another level once we get to the playoffs but for now he's still a very useful piece in our defense.

Honestly I thought the problem was that he was a bit too amped up in the finals. Seemed to get caught in the corners a bunch after a hit down low or ran a bit too far to make contact.

Good coaching will solve that pretty easy