David Clarkson

[The Winter Soldier]

It's honestly starting to look like Biggs will be nothing more than a 4th line guy at the NHL level. There is literally no offense in his game.

He needs to show some progress this year, he was only playing his first OHL season last year, so I might cut him some slack. But yes, like all our prospects in the AHL they need to move fwd, or they may be the next Jesse Blacker.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Of course, it's better. I think he's just saying that it is not a requirement of winning to have all players playing up to their contracts. It is probably easier to win if they do, but it is not a requirement.

Technically no but I'm pretty certain the aim would be to have none of those. It's actually hard to think of too many of those types of contracts on recent Cup winners.

 

[BiggestLeafsFanEVER*]

You can't deny that he is overpaid - and regardless of his production, unless he matches his career highs (unlikely), he will never be anything but overpaid, regardless of the cap situation.

That being said, he played a great game last night, great to see him get his first goal. Really hope he keeps it up.

Yes I agree with your post, I think because of his contract there will be some people who always say he is a disappoitnment. he was good yesterday tho.

 

[Faltorvo]

The cap hit is going up, and in fact there is a clause in the new CBA that it cannot go down AT ALL from the current number.

So once the cap hit is up another $4M or so, and teams start paying UFAs that do half the stuff Clarkson does boatloads more money, this contract will look genius.

Nonis wasn't just looking at 2013-14, he had an eye on the bigger picture.

This contract is very good cap hit-wise. The issue is that the cap situation is just magnified because it's currently the lowest it'll ever be during Clarkson's contract, and the Leafs still have a lot of extra cap space being eaten by the buyouts and retention.

Next season, the Scrivens, Armstrong, Tucker, and Frattin cap hits come off, freeing $2.5M in cap space. Pair that with a likely rise in the cap ceiling to a favourable $65 or $66M and the Leafs will have plenty of room going forward.

The Clarkson haters are the utmost definition of Chicken Littles. Misreading something benign as signs that the world is ending.

Something tells me that you have no clue what our cap situation is next year.

IF the cap rises to 70m and we buy out Liles, we are still going to have one heck of a time re inking this entire roster as it is.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

There is nothing wrong with Clarkson's cap hit, if one understands he is a rare player in the NHL today, one that brings an element of physicality and production to a team. Look around the league, how many power fowards are there? When you have one, you keep them. Supply and demand.

Injury prone Nathan Horton 28, was signed to 5.3 x 7 year contract this summer. Hasn't played yet this year.

Ryane Clowe at 30, signed a 4.85 x 5 year deal off of a 3 goal season.

So while 7 years may be 2 years too long for Clarkson, if Clarkson can play to the level of his last 2 seasons compared to the players mentioned in his next 5 years as a Leaf, he will actually be a bargain if one understands these type of players do not grow on trees.

Your entire argument hinges on "can be" as opposed to "is", which is entirely why people are holding him responsible to living up to the "can be" part.

Check the resumes of your comparables. We know what they "are". No one is quite sure what Clarkson "is".

 

[EDDIE20*]

He was excellent last night. No issues with him if he keeps that up.

Me neither. Of course, many will still whine about his money but who cares? If the guy is playing solid, that's what matters.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Your entire argument hinges on "can be" as opposed to "is", which is entirely why people are holding him responsible to living up to the "can be" part.

Check the resumes of your comparables. We know what they "are". No one is quite sure what Clarkson "is".

He is a proven 25(15 pro-rated full season)to 30 goal scorer his past 2 years, with 100+ PIMS(78 pro-rated last season.)

Not sure what you are expecting, but he is delivering what he was brought here for the past 3 games. Sure he had a slow start after missing the first 10 games of the season. But he has also led the Leafs with 13 registered hits, and has 3 points in the last 3 games.

 

[CBinTokyo]

Corsi On shows that with Clarkson on the ice, Toronto is only outshot by 2. Next to it you have Corsi Rel, that compares how Clarkson fares to the rest of the team in that regard. This correlates what you can see in the game, that Clarkson is great at creating offensive zone time for Toronto.

Thanks!

 

[Hibachi]

That shot gave me hopes that we can see more from Clarkson, it was one heck of a shot. That said, Kulemin also seems to have a great wrister, he just isn't shooting much this season. If we can get both Clarkson/Kulemin scoring at a 20-25goal pace, wow! Although at this point I'd be happy with 15-20 from Kulemin.

 

[mikebel111*]

If we have clarkson and bolland in game 7. I dont think we callapse

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

He is a proven 25(15 pro-rated full season)to 30 goal scorer his past 2 years, with 100+ PIMS(78 pro-rated last season.)

Not sure what you are expecting, but he is delivering what he was brought here for the past 3 games. Sure he had a slow start after missing the first 10 games of the season. But he has also led the Leafs with 13 registered hits, and has 3 points in the last 3 games.

I've made what I am expecting quite clear: 25 G 30 A plus the intangibles for 7 years. I've cut him slack on the production side of things based on the intangibles. He got a franchise players term plus 1st line salary.

The guys you compared him to:

Horton 6 seasons 18+ G 6 seasons 33+ Pts
Clowe 3 seasons 18+ G 5 seasons 33+ Pts

Clarkson has one of each.

 

[veedubn1]

20+ goals plus the ability to make other teammates give a **** on a regular basis is worth what we pay him.

With that said (again...) I think we could have gotten him for less. We had the leverage and his only real alternative was Edmonton.

 

[Havoc]

On a team that can't cycle, I find it absurd that people bash our only player who knows how.

Clarkson, McClement, Bolland, JVR ( Irrelevant because Bozak and Kessel can't cycle to save their lives) and Raymond ( when he's not falling down ) are the only guys who can cycle well on this team, with Clarkson and Bolland being the only dependable ones.

Bolland is injured, so that leaves Clarkson as Captain Cycler.

That Clarkson-Bolland line we had for a couple of games was the only line able to sustain the puck in the offensive zone. All the other lines are rush dependent and spend most of their time in our own zone.

Clarkson is a player you need to win. It's not his fault our team as a whole is so unorganized.

 

[HockeyThoughts]

On a team that can't cycle, I find it absurd that people bash our only player who knows how.

Clarkson, McClement, Bolland, JVR ( Irrelevant because Bozak and Kessel can't cycle to save their lives) and Raymond ( when he's not falling down ) are the only guys who can cycle well on this team, with Clarkson and Bolland being the only dependable ones.

Bolland is injured, so that leaves Clarkson as Captain Cycler.

That Clarkson-Bolland line we had for a couple of games was the only line able to sustain the puck in the offensive zone. All the other lines are rush dependent and spend most of their time in our own zone.

Clarkson is a player you need to win. It's not his fault our team as a whole is so unorganized.

You know.. There's this dude named Nikolai Kulemin, he's kinda a beast at puck possession and cycling

 

[Purity*]

Leafs nation is slowly starting to love Clarkson. As soon as he starts potting some more goals he's going Leafs nation will love him more and more, I really like the fact that he puts in 100% effort every shift, he actually reminds me a lot of Grabo in that regard, he's one player you will never see dogging it, even at the end of a long shift..

 

[K19*]

I like his intangibles off the ice. Definitely a locker room leader. But he certainly hasn't been as intense/tough/robust/or offensive as I was expecting.

 

[paulster2626]

I like his intangibles off the ice. Definitely a locker room leader. But he certainly hasn't been as intense/tough/robust/or offensive as I was expecting.

Leafs brass expects him to score 15-20 goals a season, and maybe up to 30 once or twice if he's lucky. Of his 15-20 goals, most of them will be of the ugly variety by standing in front of the net.

He could've gone to about 15 other teams, and left considerable money on the table to take less to play in Toronto.

The interest in him was not from an offensive output standpoint, rather his professionalism and character. What he brings to the team attitude-wise makes everyone around him better. This is why he is paid what he is paid, plus the fact that every single UFA is overpaid. If you want to sign the big FA's, you need to shell out the big dough.

I hope this makes sense to some of you.

 

[sniper81]

Leafs brass expects him to score 15-20 goals a season, and maybe up to 30 once or twice if he's lucky. Of his 15-20 goals, most of them will be of the ugly variety by standing in front of the net.

He could've gone to about 15 other teams, and left considerable money on the table to take less to play in Toronto.

The interest in him was not from an offensive output standpoint, rather his professionalism and character. What he brings to the team attitude-wise makes everyone around him better. This is why he is paid what he is paid, plus the fact that every single UFA is overpaid. If you want to sign the big FA's, you need to shell out the big dough.

I hope this makes sense to some of you.

Unfortunately most posters won't see it that way, clarkey is very valuable and fills a hole the leafs have had for a long time.

 

[inthe6ix]

Reversing his number in honour of Wendel wasn't the greatest idea.

Inevitable comparisons will be made.

Wish he was more like Tucker though, we don't have a ***** disturber ever since Komarov left.

 

[Al14]

If we have clarkson and bolland in game 7. I dont think we callapse

No we don't collapse! These two would surely help us close out game 7 with the win. Probably 4-2 or 5-2 final score.

 

[Al14]

Leafs brass expects him to score 15-20 goals a season, and maybe up to 30 once or twice if he's lucky. Of his 15-20 goals, most of them will be of the ugly variety by standing in front of the net.

He could've gone to about 15 other teams, and left considerable money on the table to take less to play in Toronto.

The interest in him was not from an offensive output standpoint, rather his professionalism and character. What he brings to the team attitude-wise makes everyone around him better. This is why he is paid what he is paid, plus the fact that every single UFA is overpaid. If you want to sign the big FA's, you need to shell out the big dough.

I hope this makes sense to some of you.

Makes sense to me. I think his scoring touch will come once he relaxes a little and doesn't try to do too much every game. Most of his contract dollars are paying for his character, no quit attitude, feistiness, competitiveness, and leadership ability. But, having said all that, he still needs to chip in with a little bit of scoring.

So far, I'm happy with him, excluding his brain fart suspension!

 

[Faltorvo]

Leafs brass expects him to score 15-20 goals a season, and maybe up to 30 once or twice if he's lucky. Of his 15-20 goals, most of them will be of the ugly variety by standing in front of the net.

He could've gone to about 15 other teams, and left considerable money on the table to take less to play in Toronto.

The interest in him was not from an offensive output standpoint, rather his professionalism and character. What he brings to the team attitude-wise makes everyone around him better. This is why he is paid what he is paid, plus the fact that every single UFA is overpaid. If you want to sign the big FA's, you need to shell out the big dough.

I hope this makes sense to some of you.

He left "considerable money on the table"?

Sorry ,gotta call shenanigans on that.

 

[Wendelstache]

He left "considerable money on the table"?

Sorry ,gotta call shenanigans on that.

So did Komisarek and Connolly when they join us... supposedly.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

he's been extremely noticeable these last couple games, and definitely in a good way.

 

[JackJ]

he's been extremely noticeable these last couple games, and definitely in a good way.

Time on the 2nd PP has helped.