First off, the stats you are cherry picking include the first two months of the year when he was producing and having a relatively positive effect on the games. He hasn't offered much since the 20th game of the year, RJ. 12 points in his last 35 games, 4 in the last 19. Its trending downwards with a bullet. End sum stats mean NOTHING, trends are the only stats that actually tell you what's happening at this moment.
He isn't playing well and the answer isn't always the same for every kid. Clarke is CLEARLY one cocky sum sumbitch, and if his confidence has crumbled there is no reason to believe that "more of the same" is the answer. He needs a break, he needs to reset, he needs to play BETTER.
Lets talk practicalities here. Doughty isn't going to sit, Spence has been much, much better than Clarke since before Christmas (and is also a kid who was sat for not performing-except he took it to heart and focuses his game, kinda like what they are trying to do with Clarke), Gavrikov and Anderson have played well and are analytics darlings, and Edmundson has been solid as hell all year.
If they want to play their best defensemen, the question now is Clarke or Moverare. Moverare has played well and allowed Spence to thrive. Ideally we would see three L/R combos, but Doughty's injury screwed that up and Gavrikov took advantage of the role open. I would prefer to see Clarke with Gavrikov or Edmundson too.
The idea that "he needs to play to get better" only works if he takes advantage of that time. Nobody here knows why he was scratched. Burroughs is just window dressing because Thomas is in the doghouse. He isn't taking Clarke's time, and for all we know this is a tough love session for Clarke because other methods haven't worked yet. Conjecture, sure. Maybe is banged up, maybe he has an attitude issue, maybe his practice habits are slipping, who knows. Could just very well be that they want him to watch a few games and work on.a few things without the pressure of a playoff chase.
No, running the stats since Jan 1 finds Clarke with the highest high danger shots/opportunities generated on the roster; amongst the best shot differentials and expected goal stats; Oh, and what you keep harping on, his raw individual production, is best amongst all Kings dmen on the roster when you go by rate--which you have to in order to account for his bullshit reduced minutes and no powerplay time. So if anything, shortening the window is cherry picking; it shows that his partner has been demonstrably worse in that time period, a fact corroborated by what a drag he is on other players on the roster and the elevation effect Clarke has on other players. So if 'trends' are what matters--even more reason for Clarke to be in the lineup because the trends for MANY other dmen is a steeply downward trajectory, particularly the ones he would replace. The only leg you have to stand on is his raw production is down, and that's pretty clearly because of his reduced minutes.
I don't know how anyone, especially someone who watches as much hockey as you, can look at Clarke and go 'yeah but he's bad defensively' while giving the other players a free pass. Clarke is a weapon and this team clearly needs someone who can actually move the puck out of the defensive end and do literally anything but throw it away in the offensive zone rather than icing 6-7 guys a night who get caved in but i guess look like they're doing something.
I know you hate stats. But there are several things here--trends, results, and processes. Clarke's trend has been ok. His results haven't been as good, but the predictive stats show he deserves a better fate. But the
process is there. And all three of those are sitting superior to MOST other roster dmen, not just the ones that are struggling. No, sitting a few games won't hurt him, but playing him random 5 minutes a game andt hen sitting him to play other corpses is bad for EVERYONE, not just Clarke. Your whole thing is 'he's not ready to contribute to a playoff team' but buddy we're watching Burroughs get
literally no shots for and a goal against nearly every game, edmundson getting caved in, moverare fading in bigger minutes, and you're telling me that Clarke is a
worse option?
Looking at your discussion of practicalities--Doughty isn't going to sit, even if he deserves to, fine. Spence is debatable, but I won't fight you there and I agree he's worked at it. Gavrikov and Anderson are REALLY struggling lately, absolutely not analytical darlings--but SOMEONE has to soak the hardest minutes since no one else can right now. They're in, no qualms with it, they have to elevate their games. Edmundson has been CRAP and he's been even worse crap with Doughty. BUt he PKs and looks like he's doing something, so I notice you NEVER comment when I'm callng him out on bad positioning, leaving the zone, and being the one leading the rush somehow stranding Clarke--I COMPLETELY disagree with his assessment. Joel has been trending down HARD and in a world where Gavy, Anderson, Doughty aren't getting benched, they need to look at mixing up JE, Moverare, Spence, Clarke, and sending Burroughs to the moon.
I guess just in summary--the vet brought in to insulate Clarke has been the one causing most of his problems and now it's spreading to the rest of the roster but I guess we aren't ready for that discussion. Clarke's gotta do himself more favors, sure...can't do that from the bench though, and can't bury our heads in the sand over the rest of the struggling dmen who could LITERALLY use some rest (minutes off), not just benching a kid to 'watch and learn' or whatever bullshit euphemism we're using now.
