Phil Kessel's ascent a lesson for David Clarkson’s doubters

[glue]

All because Clarkson said yes, its his fault.

Oh Leafs Fans. You amaze me sometimes!

So we should stop criticizing him for his awful play relative to his contract because management overpaid? As much as I think its more on Nonis for overpaying....for Clarkson to bare no blame is ridiculous. Its like lying on your resume that you bring all these skills/experience and therefore you get paid big bucks accordingly...only to come in and not deliver. Sure its early...but when you sign a contract like that..you too bare some responsibility...hopefully he does get better...but Its get annoying for people to pretend like the guy deserves no criticism at all for the way he's played so far...36 games isn't exactly super early either..

 

[Chandrashekhar Limit]

People will change their tune about him by the time the playoffs end (IF he is healthy).

 

[JimmyPower]

Totti, your the puppet unfortunately.. the puppet of the uninformed, uneducated people. Way to carry on the sentiment that mlse is the big bad wolf that doesn't care to win, because who needs more playoff revenue when mlse makes enough money in the regular season right? Great logic. Troll on my friend, troll on. Don't forget to dance.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

if you are in a desert, you will pay more for water than if you lived in the rain forest.

You cannot simply look at Absolute value (ie. first line goal production) in terms of evaluating Clarkson's contract.

Value is dependant upon need, and Nonis evaluated that we needed a s**t disturbing, tough to play against veteran in our top 9. I imagine he wanted him to be top 6, but so far that hasn't happened. we'll see where this goes.

Ultimately, the Leafs paid more (around 1.5 mill) because we valued highly that type of player.

In terms of cap space going forward, the next big contract that will be given out is Bolland (14/15).. Yes, Clarkson's contract will make it hard to sign Kule and Franson, and I am happy about that, because they are both replaceable by younger, cheaper players.

In 15/16, we have Kadri, Bernier who will be cashing in (though both are still RFA), but by then Gleason and perhaps even Gunnar and lupul will be made redundant and traded. Both Gleason and Gunnar are off teh books in 16, 17

Problem is what Clarkson normally brings to the table is far more easily replaced and for far less expense and if you were going to dish out first line dollars and franchise player term, far more proven commodities were available.

 

[The Examiner]

Totti, your the puppet unfortunately.. the puppet of the uninformed, uneducated people. Way to carry on the sentiment that mlse is the big bad wolf that doesn't care to win, because who needs more playoff revenue when mlse makes enough money in the regular season right? Great logic. Troll on my friend, troll on. Don't forget to dance.

I never once said that MLSE doesn't want to win. I never said anything about revenue. In fact, regardless of what Clarkson makes, I just don't think he's a very good hockey player.

Way to put words in my mouth and totally miss my point. You obviously missed the point of my posts. My guess is your ego couldn't handle it so you spew this abomination of a post. How dare I question any move the Leafs make! I get it, you're mad and your not going to take it anymore. You sure gave me a piece of your mind. It still doesn't change the fact that Clarkson has a terrible contract and is not that good of a hockey player and the probability of him improving is pretty low. Having said that, I was happy to see him score tonight.

You continue to dance and you are completely oblivious to it. It's bloody lovely.

 

[The Examiner]

Problem is what Clarkson normally brings to the table is far more easily replaced and for far less expense and if you were going to dish out first line dollars and franchise player term, far more proven commodities were available.

It really is this simple.

 

[JimmyPower]

I never once said that MLSE doesn't want to win. I never said anything about revenue. In fact, regardless of what Clarkson makes, I just don't think he's a very good hockey player.

Way to put words in my mouth and totally miss my point. You obviously missed the point of my posts. My guess is your ego couldn't handle it so you spew this abomination of a post. How dare I question any move the Leafs make! I get it, you're mad and your not going to take it anymore. You sure gave me a piece of your mind. It still doesn't change the fact that Clarkson has a terrible contract and is not that good of a hockey player and the probability of him improving is pretty low. Having said that, I was happy to see him score tonight.

You continue to dance and you are completely oblivious to it. It's bloody lovely.

I saw the point you were trying to make, however coming on this message board and spewing out garbage about mlse, and calling people puppets and telling them to dance on is ridiculous. Also am trying to tell you to relax and give it a couple of years before you give such a harsh opinion on the guy. He might even hit 20 goals next year and play a way tougher brand closer to what he did in Jersey. Let the guy get acclimated to his surroundings, he's only 30 or so games into a 7 year deal. Also never put those words in your mouth, just think that's the type of fan you are. No offense

 

[The Examiner]

I saw the point you were trying to make, however coming on this message board and spewing out garbage about mlse, and calling people puppets and telling them to dance on is ridiculous. Also am trying to tell you to relax and give it a couple of years before you give such a harsh opinion on the guy. He might even hit 20 goals next year and play a way tougher brand closer to what he did in Jersey. Let the guy get acclimated to his surroundings, he's only 30 or so games into a 7 year deal. Also never put those words in your mouth, just think that's the type of fan you are. No offense

Hopefully you're in a career that does not involve reading people because that would be awful. This is the only signing that I have been very vocal on in recent years. I've seen this same dance for many, many years by Leaf fans. Blatantly terrible signings where a portion of Leaf fans are singing the same old song. Short of somewhat of a miracle, there is nothing that can convince me that this is a positive signing for the Leafs.

While Clarkson may be a tough guy, he's not a tough guy. Nobody is scared of him and it's very rare that he leaves an impact on anyone on the ice. His skating hurts to watch. He's pretty weak on the puck for the type of player he is and has terrible balance. He may love playing here and have a heart of gold but he's just not good enough talent wise. He's basically playing exactly how I thought he would, based on what I've seen from him on Jersey. He's pretty much past his prime and until he proves otherwise, I'll continue to judge him by what he's done not what he might do.

 

[HellasLEAF]

Clarkson scored and still didn't really have a good game.

We need to move this guy. Somehow.

Eventually.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Clarkson scored and still didn't really have a good game.

We need to move this guy. Somehow.

Eventually.

If we used this philosophy for the entire team last night, and excercised consistency, we would be moving everyone except Bernier.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Clarkson last night.

1 goal
+1
7 hits

Hardly the worst Leaf last night. One of only 2 Leafs that finished with a plus last night. On his 2nd shift with Kadri, he scored a goal. Maybe Carlyle should notice these things.

If he can be given a more prominant role, he can start living up to his expectations here. 20 goal guy with intangibles.

Going to track a running total from last night's game for the rest of the year.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

Cox is an idiot. He was a Kessel doubter himself and looks even more foolish now comparing Kessel to Clarkson. Sensationalist writer who doesn't know jack about jack in my opinion

 

[Dragao6]

uhhh NO!!! I watch every game unfortunately and Clarkson unfortunately offers nothing that Kolorov woudl at 2-2.5M a year, actually less. Clarkson is always in the penalty box when playing it seems, again yesterday on their goal. Hes never gonna crack the Leafs top 2 lines at 5M..This biggest issue isnt clarkson playing as we can hide his outrageous 5M a year contarct in 3rd/4th line, its the change in the roster that proved again last night that it makes us allot worse.
Leafs have been bad all year but leafs were 7-3-0 first 10 games without clarkson....9-1-1 without clarkson last 11 games,,,,clarkson comes into lineup last night they lose badly..........so they are 16-4-1 without clarkson--15-18-5 with 71 in lineup! Moving Clarkson in means demoting Ashton, Holland, Bodie, D'Amigo (I would like to see Leivo more) and that is the main concern for me. These young guys were giving us nice bottom 6 effort but with Clarkson in the lineup they all get demoted, Marlies get allot better and we get Smithson back!!
Time to get rid of deadweight on our team. Our Toronto boy Clarkson can go, proving to be one of Leafs worse signings ever, Franson and Gardiner can go, and maybe Kulemin if some of these are part of a very good return (top 2 D to play with Phaneuf)!!
With a Girardi on this team and the young Marlies taking up bottom 6 lines I think we have a shot!!! Now does management see this??

 

[ldnk]

More drivel from Cox. Fantastic.
Will we see better out of Clarkson than lazy play with the odd hit/non-scoring play cycle shift and a <20 point pace. Sure, I think Clarkson will be able to put up a few more points.

But how Phil Kessel is remotely a lesson to compare to Clarkson is beyond me. Clarkson comes to the Leafs off the reputation of a 100 game period of improved play where he put up 40G and 23 assists for 63 points in 100 games. This is the BEST stretch of play in his career. The goal totals are awesome, the lack of assists is a telling indication that he's a guy who relies on others to score and is not a guy who creates offense for the team.

The rest of his career amounts to a guy with an additional 60 goals in about 360 games. At best we are going to get a player who plays somewhere between that 13 goal pace and the 33 goal pace he had for a season + 20 games.

But Clarkson is 29. He's a guy who relied on physical play earlier in his career to thrive. Those guys tend not to get better with age. Comparing him to the continued development of now 26 year old Phil Kessel is a complete misdirection. Kessel's scoring was already there. What was missing from Kessel's game was an edge and better defensive play. Those are things that can typically be learned with experience in the NHL (and the right amount of effort). Goal-scoring and point production really can't.

Expecting Clarkson to maintain a career year pace is silly. Kulemin is more likely to hit 30 goals again in his career than Clarkson...speaking of that comparison. Kulemin had a stretch of 35 goals in 103 games....he also had 37 assists for 72 points in 103 games. But everyone appropriately writes off Kulemin's offensive game as gone.

Clarkson had a career anomaly and got paid handsomely for it.

 

[ldnk]

Clarkson last night.

1 goal
+1
7 hits

Hardly the worst Leaf last night. One of only 2 Leafs that finished with a plus last night. On his 2nd shift with Kadri, he scored a goal. Maybe Carlyle should notice these things.

If he can be given a more prominant role, he can start living up to his expectations here. 20 goal guy with intangibles.

Going to track a running total from last night's game for the rest of the year.

I was at the game last night. The Florida score-keepers were handing the Leafs hits like candy. He had some efforts where he threw a hit or two, but 7 seems highly suspect given his play. What is disappointing to me is that prior to the goal, he was floating around the ice for the most part. It's hard to criticize one player when the whole team played like crap, but Clarkson was brought in to provide energy and physicality. This was exactly the kind of game where Clarkson needed to be playing like a man possessed and he didn't.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

Clarkson playing possessed is about average play for NHL standards. He has a nice shot and release but he makes everything else look difficult

 

[Ace88*]

Awful lot of floating by Clarkson last night. How they managed to count him making a hit 7 times is beyond me. He literally just skated around the zone for most of the night. Yeah yeah he had a goal, but the rest of the game it's like he wasn't even trying. Which is really sad, because he probably was.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Awful lot of floating by Clarkson last night. How they managed to count him making a hit 7 times is beyond me. He literally just skated around the zone for most of the night. Yeah yeah he had a goal, but the rest of the game it's like he wasn't even trying. Which is really sad, because he probably was.

I am not necessarily disagreeing, but why is Clarkson singled out for floating, and other players are not. Ie. Lupul

The entire team had an off night, Clarkson was hardly the worst of the worst. Yet he is still the focal point of criticism.

The positive is, when he was placed with a creative Center he scored. Small victories, maybe we should drop Lupul to the 3rd line and go with Kadri, Clarkson, and Kulemin.

 

[AustonMitchWilly]

So we should stop criticizing him for his awful play relative to his contract because management overpaid? As much as I think its more on Nonis for overpaying....for Clarkson to bare no blame is ridiculous. Its like lying on your resume that you bring all these skills/experience and therefore you get paid big bucks accordingly...only to come in and not deliver. Sure its early...but when you sign a contract like that..you too bare some responsibility...hopefully he does get better...but Its get annoying for people to pretend like the guy deserves no criticism at all for the way he's played so far...36 games isn't exactly super early either..

If leafs asked you to suit up for 5.25 would you?

OF COURSE YOU WOULD.

Clarkson is a 3.5 million dollar guy. The market had him getting 6+, of which he left on the table to play in Toronto. Hes doing his job as a 3.5 millino dollar guy. He said yes to a bonus.

Also, he hasnt had consistent linemates, ever. If youve ever played hockey, you would understand that. Clarksons play is his fault, sure, but its largely affected by the decisions of the coaching staff to move him around due to injuries and other reasons.

We will see a completely different Clarkson next year when injuries dont rail us all season and he can actually try and gain some chemistry with someone, anyone.

 

[JimmyPower]

Hopefully you're in a career that does not involve reading people because that would be awful. This is the only signing that I have been very vocal on in recent years. I've seen this same dance for many, many years by Leaf fans. Blatantly terrible signings where a portion of Leaf fans are singing the same old song. Short of somewhat of a miracle, there is nothing that can convince me that this is a positive signing for the Leafs.

While Clarkson may be a tough guy, he's not a tough guy. Nobody is scared of him and it's very rare that he leaves an impact on anyone on the ice. His skating hurts to watch. He's pretty weak on the puck for the type of player he is and has terrible balance. He may love playing here and have a heart of gold but he's just not good enough talent wise. He's basically playing exactly how I thought he would, based on what I've seen from him on Jersey. He's pretty much past his prime and until he proves otherwise, I'll continue to judge him by what he's done not what he might do.

Continue to judge him based on 30 games. Dance

 

[The Examiner]

Clarkson last night.

1 goal
+1
7 hits

Hardly the worst Leaf last night. One of only 2 Leafs that finished with a plus last night. On his 2nd shift with Kadri, he scored a goal. Maybe Carlyle should notice these things.

Just like FOX News to make up facts. HA HA. Normally wouldn't care but Clarkson was EVEN last night not +1. Was in the box for FLA first goal and on the ice for the game winner.

Having said this, Clarkson was hardly the problem last night. I just can't let FOX News get away with anything, if I can help it.

 

[The Thin White Duke]

Continue to judge him based on 30 games. Dance

We can judge him based on his entire career thus far if you'd like? Mediocre 3rd liner good for ~35 points and a single fluke 30 goal season.

Most people here don't want Kulemin at 4 million even though he's MUCH better defensively, offensively, and physically, yet they're ok with Clarkson at 5.2.

 

[The Examiner]

Continue to judge him based on 30 games. Dance

You really do lack reading comprehension skills. For this reason, I will have to make you disappear. I hate arguing with dummies. You're too emotional for me.

 

[Guy Boucher]

He never compared Kessel and Clarkson as players, which he even pointed out in the article, not sure where you read that?

It was the premise of the article. I'm not sure how you missed that?

It is obvious what the article is about, it's about how situations change, and what seemed right a year ago, may not be right today. Kessel has evolved, people change. Bozak has evolved for the better, imagine if we listened to the doubters, where would the team be today?

Kessel and Bozak were good players on a team and continued to improve. Both were also young and approaching their prime.

Clarskon has not been a good player on this team. He is past or near the end of the prime of his career.

Again, the comparison is asinine.

Clarkson may or may not evolve, but Nonis who is right on a lot of things, I wouldn't want to bet against him. Ie. Gleason most recently.

No one is right about everything. I had a ton of respect for Burke when he traded Versteeg and acknowledged that he made a mistake.

He had the humility to admit his mistake and recoup assets. Unfortunately it seems that Nonis will hold unto Clarkson until any potential interest in him is dried up and we're left with an overpaid player, who is not that good, and certainly doesn't fit on the team.

It has nothing to do with comparing Kessel and Clarkson as players. You are the one that is avoiding the facts quite frankly.

You said it's not about comparing them and then went ahead and compared them in the same post.

I'll leave it to the rest of the readers to decide who is truly avoiding facts.

 

[Nemesis Prime]

The thing about Leafs nation is once they've made up their mind about someone who's played 37 games, nothing's going to change it.