David Clarkson
- Thread starter mjmgrand
- Start date
WhatIfGodWasALeaf
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Has a pulled grown and is doubtful for tonight.
Britishbulldog
Active member
2badknees said:
That might be a nice 3rd line but I think I would prefer Kulemin with Kadri and Lupul instead Raymond.
Rebel_1812
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Britishbulldog said:
Clarkson needs to play with Kadri and Lupul. If you want him to score more, try playing him with the offensively skilled guys.
Heroic Shrimp
Active member
Andy007 said:
I really wouldn't be surprised if Clarkson scores less than 50 goals for the Leafs over the duration of his contract. But, boy, would I love to be wrong about that.
I would have to agree, that Clarkson should play with Kulimen and Bolland (Holland if Bolland is still broken) I think that the rough and tumble play of Kulimen along with his good defensive play is a good fit. Clarkson is not as bad, as his point total has him. On the goals he has scored. His shot is pretty good if he has the time to shot.
Champ Kind
New member
Andy007 said:
Um, no. Subjectively, your statement that Clarkson has played with Kadri and Lupul seemed wrong to me. Then I searched, and searched, and searched, and finally came up with something quantitative:
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS LINES FOR 2014-03-10
EVEN STRENGTH
FORWARDS
#1 30.6% BOZAK,TYLER - KESSEL,PHIL - VAN RIEMSDYK,JAMES
#2 17.7% KADRI,NAZEM - KULEMIN,NIKOLAI - LUPUL,JOFFREY
#3 10.9% CLARKSON,DAVID - HOLLAND,PETER - RAYMOND,MASON
#4 8.9% BODIE,TROY - HOLLAND,PETER - RAYMOND,MASON
And while I'm not going to swim completely against the current and say Clarkson has been all I'd hoped he would be, I will say he also has not been as consistently brutal as he's being made out to be. I've seen posters say Troy Bodie is a better player, that he might now score more than 7 goals each year of his contract. Look, Clarkson is struggling - big time - but there is skill there, and he can be an effective player.
I think Dr. Leafer said it a while ago, and I'm paraphrasing here, give Clarkson a mulligan for this year, hit the reset button for 14-15, and reserve final conclusions until then.
bustaheims
Active member
A Weekend at Bernier's said:
I'm not sure how up to date those numbers are, because that particular line combination only represents 3.31% of Clarkson's ESTOI so far this season. If you want a better break down of his linemates, you can find it here. His most frequent centre appears to be a toss up between Kadri and McClement, while his most frequent LW seems to be Raymond, though Lupul is not far behind (nor is Kulemin). The most frequent line combo he's been used on is with McClement and Kulemin, but, that still only represents 18.81% of his ESTOI. He's been bounced between the 2nd and 3rd line a lot, which means he's seen a lot of ice time with one or both of Lupul or Kadri.
bustaheims said:
Those are just the line combos and their frequency from the Anaheim game.
Champ Kind
New member
bustaheims said:
Thank you, Busta.
Still, the comment that Clarkson has played the majority of his time with Kadri and Lupul is at best an exaggeration.
bustaheims
Active member
A Weekend at Bernier's said:
Sure, but, he has played significant time with one or both of them - certainly enough to say he's been given a legitimate opportunity there - and it hasn't worked out for him. Every time he's replaced with Kulemin or Raymond after a stretch with Kadri and/or Lupul, inevitably, the line he's removed from starts to play and produce at a higher level than when he was on it.
Andy007
Active member
A Weekend at Bernier's said:
Clarkson has been mostly awful this year and has been criticized accordingly. If he starts playing better or has a better year next year, great! I don't see why conclusions have to be reserved. This is a player who has failed to reach 20 and 30 points in full 82 game schedules in the past and has had only one season where he reached 40 (46). It's an awful contract for a barely average player who hasn't played well and he (and Nonis) are being judged quite fairly imo.
As for the line combos I think your "um..no" response has already been refuted. Clarkson has received a good amount of playing time including top six minutes and powerplay time. He might start playing better but, again, based on his career numbers I'm not sure how much better he can play.
Bodie vs. Clarkson on equal contracts? I take Clarkson. Bodie for league minimum and Clarkson over 5mill each year for 7 years? Bodie, easily, hands down. Heck, give Bodie some PP and 2nd line time and who knows, maybe he can reach Clarkson's avg. NJ season output (which is somewhere in the range of 15 goals and 35 points).
Champ Kind
New member
Andy007 said:
Andy, what I was refuting was the assertion that Clarkson played "the majority" of his time on that line. I won't dispute that he's had a significant opportunity to play with them and, when he has, hasn't really done anything.
And we can agree to disagree, but I don't think that Clarkson is an average player. Assessing his play on points alone paints an incomplete picture. And, yes, I'm aware of the running critique on here around 'intangibles' and 'leadership', so I won't go there. But, when Clarkson is on his game (which, again, he hasn't been this year), he brings the ability to get hard on the forecheck, punish defenders, create havoc in front of the net, and improve team toughness while having the ability to finish, get garbage goals, and not pull down the play of skilled teammates. In my opinion, he's not a $5M+ player, but nor is he 'barely average'.
A Weekend at Bernier's said:
Troy Bodie IS a better player than Clarkson. Clarkson is freakin' useless. When he has the puck, he tunnel visions towards the net 95% of the time, trying to get past 2-3 defenders, and loses the puck. His hits are late and weak. He can't score with any consistency (barely at all). He doesn't assist much if at all. His forchecking is sub-par at best - half the time he falls over after his hit.