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David Clarkson

hockeyfan1 said:
dappleganger said:
Potvin29 said:
@coreypronman 

Clarkson still could make up some lost ground, but TOR may have about ~10 goals in lost value this season due to the cap space used on DC.

So Clarkson needs to score an additional 10 goals next year. That's doable.

Doable?  I doubt it.  This Clarkson guy has had trouble just getting his first goal, nevermind ten. 

Never been more disappointed in a Leaf this year than in # 71.  Worst signing so far.

When I first saw him play in his first game, you just knew this year was going to be a disaster. He wasn't going to get on track. Maybe next year? Who knows.
 
princedpw said:
bustaheims said:
Deebo said:
LTIR is our only hope

Unless the Oilers are still interested in him and are willing to take him on at full price if they don't have to give anything up.

Currently, it would be a minor miracle if we could give him away and
only retain, say, 1.5 million per year.

I was thinking that retain 15% ($0.788 MIL) after July 2nd where he has received his signing bonus already and trade for Edmonton's 2nd pick 2015.  Nasty signing bonuses in 15/16, 16/17 and 17/18.

SEASON AHL SALARY  NHL SALARY  P.  S. BONUS  AAV  CAP HIT 
2013-14 $4,500,000 $4,500,000 $0 $3,500,000 $5,250,000 $5,250,000
2014-15 $4,750,000 $4,750,000 $0 $3,750,000 $5,250,000 $5,250,000
2015-16 $5,500,000 $5,500,000 $0 $4,500,000 $5,250,000 $5,250,000
2016-17 $7,000,000 $7,000,000 $0 $5,000,000 $5,250,000 $5,250,000
2017-18 $7,000,000 $7,000,000 $0 $5,000,000 $5,250,000 $5,250,000
2018-19 $4,750,000 $4,750,000 $0 $3,750,000 $5,250,000 $5,250,000
2019-20 $3,250,000 $3,250,000 $0 $2,250,000 $5,250,000 $5,250,000
 
So I've been giving some more thought to my earlier post, specifically to the question, "What other UFAs who have signed big dollar, big term deals, have struggled as badly as Clarkson has this year?".  And then the follow-up, "Were any of them able to recover and regain (or exceed) their previous form?".

My immediate reaction was to jump to the Scott Gomez, Bobby Holik, Chris Drury (notice a trend here?), Daniel Briere, Ryan Malone, and Dustin Penners of the world.  Except that, these guys actually played pretty well early in their respective contracts and only really faded away as time (and age and pancake consumption) went on.

So while my analysis is no-where near exhaustive, I did rack my brain as well as a few pages of google searches to come up with a list of players who, after signing big UFA deals, struggled as badly as Clarkson has.  To my continued chagrin, none of them recovered.  This is my list:

- Mike Komisarek: injured, inconsistent, and distracted in his first year, his subsequent play got worse
- Ville Leino: $4.5 / cap hit; his first year with Buffalo, he played 72 games, 8 goals and 17 assists.  His line this year is 50 games - 0 goals - 12 assists. 

Beyond that for position players, I'm tapped.  Again, we can point to Martin Havlat and Brian Campbell and Marion Gaborik and the like as free agent busts, but the reality is that while there may not have been great value in these deals, these players did post decent production early on in their deals.  The real glaring issues only crept up later, as injuries and age took over.  There haven't been many players who signed big UFA deals that have performed so poorly as Clarkson has this year.

Goalies are a bit different, and because it's sort of an apples to oranges thing, I'm leaving them out here.  Though had I included them Cristobal Huet and Ilya Bryzgalov would have made the list.

So, all this to say that while I continue to hold out hope that Clarkson returns to form, the few precedents that I found don't exactly fill one with optimism.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
I'd say he's about like Mayers except for the massive excess dough.

Mayers is actually a pretty great comparison, as I hated him too. You could just tell that he wasn't interested at all in playing here. That's obviously not true for Clarkson, but the on-ice results are pretty similar.

That's funny about Mayers.  I was really pleased to see him in Toronto. He could hit, skate, fight, score the odd goal and then I heard a report that he never wanted to play for the Leafs and man did it show.

I was so disappointed.
 
Britishbulldog said:
CarltonTheBear said:
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
I'd say he's about like Mayers except for the massive excess dough.

Mayers is actually a pretty great comparison, as I hated him too. You could just tell that he wasn't interested at all in playing here. That's obviously not true for Clarkson, but the on-ice results are pretty similar.

That's funny about Mayers.  I was really pleased to see him in Toronto. He could hit, skate, fight, score the odd goal and then I heard a report that he never wanted to play for the Leafs and man did it show.

I was so disappointed.

My biggest memory of Jamaal Mayers was the media trolling every trade deadline.  Mayers to Toronto for a 1st + prospect.
 
bustaheims said:
sickbeast said:
Just bury him in the minors or use a compliance buyout.

The Leafs don't have a compliance buyout available, nor would Clarkson be eligible for one. Contracts signed after the lockout can not be bought out with compliance buy outs.

Capgeek has a nmc listed too, fwiw.
 
mc said:
hockeyfan1 said:
dappleganger said:
Potvin29 said:
@coreypronman 

Clarkson still could make up some lost ground, but TOR may have about ~10 goals in lost value this season due to the cap space used on DC.

So Clarkson needs to score an additional 10 goals next year. That's doable.

Doable?  I doubt it.  This Clarkson guy has had trouble just getting his first goal, nevermind ten. 

Never been more disappointed in a Leaf this year than in # 71.  Worst signing so far.

When I first saw him play in his first game, you just knew this year was going to be a disaster. He wasn't going to get on track. Maybe next year? Who knows.

As much as I hate his season, I'm not willing to write him off yet.  i would love to see what he can do with a full season and camp, and preferable on a line with Bolland... which is another issue.  If he sucks next year I think he gets pegged for a buyout, but I hope he gets it together and finds some guys he can play with.  A few more shots on net from him might help the cause as well.
 
drummond said:
http://theleafsnation.com/2014/3/21/battle-of-the-grinders-clarkson-vs-komarov

interesting read, obvious conslusions

If Komorov is a 2M addition, then dumping Orr pretty much gets you there, no? I'm of the similar opinion of luncheonmeat, Clarkson probably isn't worth 5M, but he's not going to be this bad through the duration of his contract.

Having Bodie/Clarkson/Komorov on my team in place of Orr/Mclaren/blank updates the squad to the new NHL imo.
 
2badknees said:
drummond said:
http://theleafsnation.com/2014/3/21/battle-of-the-grinders-clarkson-vs-komarov

interesting read, obvious conslusions

If Komorov is a 2M addition, then dumping Orr pretty much gets you there, no? I'm of the similar opinion of luncheonmeat, Clarkson probably isn't worth 5M, but he's not going to be this bad through the duration of his contract.

Having Bodie/Clarkson/Komorov on my team in place of Orr/Mclaren/blank updates the squad to the new NHL imo.
nice post, I agree completely.
 
Okay, so does anyone know our current record with vs without Clarkson in lineup?

Carter Ashton would be far more effective taking his regular spot in the lineup.
 
Just so we are clear.  On this 4 game losing streak David Clarkson has 0G 0A 0P is -2.  He has FOUR hits in those games.  He has ONE blocked shot.  I guess he had a fight where he took an instigator though against Tampa so that kind of made sense?

Useless oaf.
 
dintymoore said:
Big hat trick game against his old team for Clarkson tonight.. haha

That would be awesome.

Reality is if he can get a shot on goal, that would be a step up from where he currently is.
 
mc said:
dintymoore said:
Big hat trick game against his old team for Clarkson tonight.. haha

That would be awesome.

Reality is if he can get a shot on goal, that would be a step up from where he currently is.


By "hattrick" I think he meant 3 shots on net.
 
Zee said:
mc said:
dintymoore said:
Big hat trick game against his old team for Clarkson tonight.. haha

That would be awesome.

Reality is if he can get a shot on goal, that would be a step up from where he currently is.


By "hattrick" I think he meant 3 shots on net.

Actually, I'm pretty sure he means falling down 3 times in one shift.
 
Zee said:
mc said:
dintymoore said:
Big hat trick game against his old team for Clarkson tonight.. haha

That would be awesome.

Reality is if he can get a shot on goal, that would be a step up from where he currently is.


By "hattrick" I think he meant 3 shots on net.

No it's a "David Clarkson hat-trick" - 3 shifts without falling over.  Or if he's really up for the game, he might go for a "natural David Clarkson hat-trick."  Not quite as famous as the "Gordie How hat-trick" but, for some players, just as difficult to obtain.
 

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