David Clarkson

[CarltonTheBear]

@Hope_Smoke 

Dreger "Clarkson is a fierce competitor who will go down trying. Who knows, maybe the best for this season is ahead of him?"

8) 8) 8)

Fierce competitor.  Fierce.

Honestly, I'm at the point where I'm just hoping that he gets injured again. Or maybe suspended. I'm not a bad person.

 

[Zee]

@Hope_Smoke 

Dreger "Clarkson is a fierce competitor who will go down trying. Who knows, maybe the best for this season is ahead of him?"

8) 8) 8)

Fierce competitor.  Fierce.

Honestly, I'm at the point where I'm just hoping that he gets injured again. Or maybe suspended. I'm not a bad person.

But then we'll miss those Clarkson "intangibles". 

Not a good feeling about this game tonight.  Leafs back to back, travel, Tampa rested with Stamkos getting going.  Could be a blowout.

 

[L K]

@Hope_Smoke 

Dreger "Clarkson is a fierce competitor who will go down trying. Who knows, maybe the best for this season is ahead of him?"

8) 8) 8)

Fierce competitor.  Fierce.

Honestly, I'm at the point where I'm just hoping that he gets injured again. Or maybe suspended. I'm not a bad person.

Yeah, but he's falling down slightly less so that's something?

 

[Champ Kind]

Honestly, I'm at the point where I'm just hoping that he gets injured again. Or maybe suspended. I'm not a bad person.

Yes, yes you are. 

 

[Champ Kind]

@Hope_Smoke 

Dreger "Clarkson is a fierce competitor who will go down trying. Who knows, maybe the best for this season is ahead of him?"

8) 8) 8)

Fierce competitor.  Fierce.

You know what's funny, I was watching him on the forecheck yesterday and he really isn't that strong of a hitter. He made some pretty tame plays along the boards. This is in strong contrast to "doesn't hit" Kulemin, who makes clean, hard checks seemingly every play. I really can't find any facet of the game where Clarkson at least remotely excels.

I have tried.  Lord, how I have tried.  But while the will is strong, the flesh is weak.  Watching the Washington game on Sunday, I was thinking the exact same thing.  Clarkson really doesn't finish his checks with any authority.  Sure, he's scrappy, and yippy, and he can cycle the puck decently, but he really doesn't forecheck very hard. 

I'm finding it terribly difficult to find many redeeming qualities, though I've wanted to.

 

[L K]

@Hope_Smoke 

Dreger "Clarkson is a fierce competitor who will go down trying. Who knows, maybe the best for this season is ahead of him?"

8) 8) 8)

Fierce competitor.  Fierce.

You know what's funny, I was watching him on the forecheck yesterday and he really isn't that strong of a hitter. He made some pretty tame plays along the boards. This is in strong contrast to "doesn't hit" Kulemin, who makes clean, hard checks seemingly every play. I really can't find any facet of the game where Clarkson at least remotely excels.

I have tried.  Lord, how I have tried.  But while the will is strong, the flesh is weak.  Watching the Washington game on Sunday, I was thinking the exact same thing.  Clarkson really doesn't finish his checks with any authority.  Sure, he's scrappy, and yippy, and he can cycle the puck decently, but he really doesn't forecheck very hard. 

I'm finding it terribly difficult to find many redeeming qualities, though I've wanted to.

He looks back at the referees well.

 

[Corn Flake]

He looks back at the referees well.

So do JVR, Kessel, Dion, Lupul.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

He looks back at the referees well.

So do JVR, Kessel, Dion, Lupul.

Found something they do that Clarkson doesn't:

 

[bustaheims]

@Hope_Smoke 

Dreger "Clarkson is a fierce competitor who will go down trying. Who knows, maybe the best for this season is ahead of him?"

8) 8) 8)

Fierce competitor.  Fierce.

You know what's funny, I was watching him on the forecheck yesterday and he really isn't that strong of a hitter. He made some pretty tame plays along the boards. This is in strong contrast to "doesn't hit" Kulemin, who makes clean, hard checks seemingly every play. I really can't find any facet of the game where Clarkson at least remotely excels.

I have tried.  Lord, how I have tried.  But while the will is strong, the flesh is weak.  Watching the Washington game on Sunday, I was thinking the exact same thing.  Clarkson really doesn't finish his checks with any authority.  Sure, he's scrappy, and yippy, and he can cycle the puck decently, but he really doesn't forecheck very hard. 

I'm finding it terribly difficult to find many redeeming qualities, though I've wanted to.

He looks back at the referees well.

He does an excellent job of protecting water bottles.

 

[AlmosGirl]

He looks back at the referees well.

So do JVR, Kessel, Dion, Lupul.

Found something they do that Clarkson doesn't:

LOL

 

[Bullfrog]

You know what's funny, I was watching him on the forecheck yesterday and he really isn't that strong of a hitter. He made some pretty tame plays along the boards. This is in strong contrast to "doesn't hit" Kulemin, who makes clean, hard checks seemingly every play. I really can't find any facet of the game where Clarkson at least remotely excels.

Clarkson: 7 years at $5.25M (incidentally, only $150k less than Kessel's cap number this season  :-X )

I can't even imagine what Kulemin would be worth in comparison. It would be a crime if Kulemin gets less than Clarkson.

 

[bakeapples]

@Hope_Smoke 

Dreger "Clarkson is a fierce competitor who will go down trying. Who knows, maybe the best for this season is ahead of him?"

8) 8) 8)

Fierce competitor.  Fierce.

My new nickname for him is Mr5x7 - that refers to both the contract and him taking 5 nights off out of 7

 

[Strangelove]

I truly don't understand why the media isn't hounding Clarkson AT ALL. Guys like Kadri, Grabo, Gardiner, etc., were repeatedly denigrated despite producing at exponentially higher clips.

Clarkson's contract may well be one of the worst in NHL history (barring, I suppose, contracts involving total non-performance due to injury), and yet we haven't heard much of a peep beyond "he's struggling, but he'll get better." Well no **** he'll get better - he provides the worst value for money in the league right now, so how could he get worse? Regardless of whether he ends up putting up a couple more points, his contract is still going to be bloody awful.

 

[drummond]

Leafs give him a chance to prove his worth next year but if he fails they would be forced to deal with his albatros contract, burrying him in minors, buying him out, whatever. It is not only criplling them cap wise, but with exception of Orr and MacLaren essentially everyone on the roster can now claim 5M per year just pointing to Clarkson?s contract. I mean if Clarkson can get 5M per for his mere 10 points, how much is fair for Kulemin, Raymond etc.?

 

[bustaheims]

The lack of criticism doesn't surprise me at all, because, the media has fuelled the idea that he's a playoff warrior and such, despite there not being any real evidence of that in his past. There's still very much a "let's wait and see what he does in the playoff" attitude around Clarkson right now.

 

[hap_leaf]

He has now matched his games played for last year (he played all 48 games) and has less than half the points to show for it.  And about 100 less shots.

 

[Champ Kind]

I'm trying to think about other instances where an unrestricted free agent has signed a big dollar, big term contract, struggled mightily, but eventually returned to previously displayed form.  Guys like Penner, Gomez, and Drury signed big, over-the-top deals.  But they all performed rather well in the first few years, only to have their performance tail off significantly later in the contract. 

What's so concerning is that most posters on this forum thought Clarkson would follow a similar route: decent performance in the first part of the contract followed by a pretty low pay:results ratio later on.  I don't think even the most skeptical here (well, maybe with the exception of the heartbroken Mr. Grieves), would have thought that Clarkson would play so poorly in the first year of the deal at age 29. 

I still have a hint of optimism and hope that injury, pressure and lack of continuity have negatively affected Clarkson's play this year.  But that hope is wavering, big time.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I'm trying to think about other instances where an unrestricted free agent has signed a big dollar, big term contract, struggled mightily, but eventually returned to previously displayed form.  Guys like Penner, Gomez, and Drury signed big, over-the-top deals.  But they all performed rather well in the first few years, only to have their performance tail off significantly later in the contract. 

What's so concerning is that most posters on this forum thought Clarkson would follow a similar route: decent performance in the first part of the contract followed by a pretty low pay:results ratio later on.  I don't think even the most skeptical here (well, maybe with the exception of the heartbroken Mr. Grieves), would have thought that Clarkson would play so poorly in the first year of the deal at age 29. 

I still have a hint of optimism and hope that injury, pressure and lack of continuity have negatively affected Clarkson's play this year.  But that hope is wavering, big time.

I feel like this quote is going to haunt Nonis:

?I?m not worried about six or seven right now,? Nonis said. ?I?m worried about one. And Year One, I know we?re going to have a very good player. I believe that he?s got a lot of good years left in him.?

Mirtle nailed it good at the time: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/leafs-beat/the-problem-with-david-clarksons-new-contract/article13067766/

 

[pnjunction]

I wonder how long before management has to acknowledge he is a lost cause and save what little cap hit we can burying him in the minors Liles-style.  I guess it depends on Nonis' shelf life since it will probably take a management change before the gravity of this mistake is so fully admitted.

With this deal I think Nonis basically blew a 5.25M black hole in our cap space for 7 years to come which I'm afraid counters most or all of the good he has done since taking over.  It was such an insane level of UFA hype to get sucked into that I think it may be held up as an example for years to come.

 

[hap_leaf]

If we were playing a pickup game of hockey and all the Leafs stood in a line, I would choose Bodie before Clarkson.