Parise who? Is Clarkson becoming a legit first line winger?

[Richer's Ghost]

ok I read through the thread, and 99% of people didn’t think he was a parise replacement in the first place. so this all seems to be a moot point

Utility monster doesn't have time for egalitarianist thread.

 

[MartyOwns]

Utility monster doesn't have time for egalitarianist thread.

obligatory text

 

[Henkka]

Hi guys,

was Kovalchuk a right winger all season again, or did he play some LW with Clarkson?

And I mean even strentgh play only.

 

[CerebralGenesis]

yes and then no actually

 

[MartyOwns]

rw all day erry day

 

[Roomtemperature]

Okay looking back... what the hell happened with Clarkson in those last 30 or so games?

 

[Bleedred]

Okay looking back... what the hell happened with Clarkson in those last 30 or so games?

Who the hell knows? This is probably why Lou won't offer him big money, and rightfully so. It's what Chico, and Dano were talking about too.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Okay looking back... what the hell happened with Clarkson in those last 30 or so games?

He started playing a finesse game instead of his usual stand in front grind it out game. He would get like 8 shots a game all coming from the circle and would never even get scoring chances. He also wasn't hitting and seemingly lost his little ability he had to stay upright. He was essentially a very slow, unskilled, soft player bc of the style he was playing. I guess he was trying to he more offensive, but when he started doing this he lost all of the production he was getting. I think he can turn back into a 20-20 grinding player that we all love if we get some legit top 6 wingers to play ahead of him.

 

[DEVILS ALL THE WAY*]

Okay looking back... what the hell happened with Clarkson in those last 30 or so games?

Reality?

Clarkson is not a 30 goal scoring machine and odds of him repeating what he did last year are very slim IMO. He's a 20/20 guy that will also rack up alot of PIM's.

Depending on Clarkson to pick up the slack for the loss of Parise and Sykora was the first mistake Lou made last offseason. Let's just hope he won't reward him for the season he had last year and the start he had this year in fear of losing yet another ****ing pending UFA for free.

One of the things I hate from Lou is that he doesn't know how to maximise the value of his players when they're heading to free agency. I can understand that he'd prefer to keep his pending UFA's for a cup run but there's certain players you can't afford to lose for nothing cause the impact it'll have the following years and the years after that are just too big to recover whitout faceplanting.

We've managed to save face over the years cause we had a pending HOF'er between the pipes and the core of our offense wasn't on the verge of turning 35. Today, we're stuck in a rough spot cause our goaltending isn't at the same level and guys like Elias, despite his solid production, shouldn't be our "go-to-guy" after Kovy.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Okay looking back... what the hell happened with Clarkson in those last 30 or so games?

Same thing that happened to every single forward on the team, I would imagine. It's more an indictment of the team than Clarkson that Clarkson led in goals despite scoring so few in 30 games.

 

[Bleedred]

Clarkson I think had the lowest amount of points in the last 34 games though among non goon forwards. I believe he was tied with Gionta.

I think the one trick Poni had one less point than both of them in that time span, but he actually missed a couple games due to injury.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Clarkson I think had the lowest amount of points in the last 34 games though among non goon forwards. I believe he was tied with Gionta.

I think the one trick Poni had one less point than both of them in that time span, but he actually missed a couple games due to injury.

The New Jersey Devils put more shots on goal (per 20 minutes) with Clarkson on the ice than any other skater at even strength. Second was Loktionov, and third was Elias. This is per unit of ice time, so games played or time missed isn't a huge factor. Clarkson also led the team in corsi/20 minutes. He's become a very good hockey player considering his background.

 

[Bleedred]

The New Jersey Devils put more shots on goal (per 20 minutes) with Clarkson on the ice than any other skater at even strength. Second was Loktionov, and third was Elias. This is per unit of ice time, so games played or time missed isn't a huge factor. Clarkson also led the team in corsi/20 minutes. He's become a very good hockey player considering his background.

If he isn't putting it in the back of the net then he's not worth what he's likely gonna get. Good corsi don't make you worth $5 million a year if you're scoring less than 20 goals.

I don't see him as a 30 goal guy. Maybe a perennial 20 guy.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

If he isn't putting it in the back of the net then he's not worth what he's likely gonna get. Good corsi don't make you worth $5 million a year if you're scoring less than 20 goals.

I don't see him as a 30 goal guy. Maybe a perennial 20 guy.

The point is that NO ONE was putting the puck in the back of the net and yet Clarkson was the best at doing what is necessary to score. Those aren't just Clarkson's shots, they're the shots (specifically shots on goal, too) that any Devil takes when Clarkson is on the ice. Basically, Clarkson's play facilitates zone time and shots on goal, which, historically, are both good indicators of goals being scored and games being won.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

The point is that NO ONE was putting the puck in the back of the net and yet Clarkson was the best at doing what is necessary to score. Those aren't just Clarkson's shots, they're the shots (specifically shots on goal, too) that any Devil takes when Clarkson is on the ice. Basically, Clarkson's play facilitates zone time and shots on goal, which, historically, are both good indicators of goals being scored and games being won.

So many of his shots were just thrown on net for the sake of shooting and led to zero rebound or chance. How did everyone not see that? He'd rack up tons of shots with literally not getting a single chance. He would also not pass it and elect to shoot when a pass was clearly the better choice. He wasn't playing the game that he has played his whole career, how has everyone not seen this? I'm not some hockey genius, but was it not painfully obvious that he wasn't playing his hard nosed game and was attempting to play like a high skill panzi?

 

[NC107*]

Lou will offer Clarkson $4.5M for 4 years and that's too much. Clarkson will decline. He will sign for $5.5M elsewhere. Lou needs to focus on signing Elias. Lou missed that opportunity again. The Devils will still struggle scoring goals next season like the past 3 seasons thanks to Lou. Our goalie tandem will be a year older. Our defense will be better than this season except on the offensive side.