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Adam Clendening

This guy is one of the worst skaters I've ever seen...not only is he slow he doesn't move his feet enough when he has the puck. If he can improve on these things he can be a good player but it doesn't look promising at the moment.
 
I was hoping that his skating issue was overblown but it's clearly an issue. Hopefully it's something that can be improved. I can't think of many good offensive d-men in the NHL who aren't good skaters(excluding guys who are much bigger than Clendening). And if they're are some, they likely make up for it with elite skill and hockey sense.

It's way too soon to write him off, but there are some troubling signs.
 
You mean the ones where the Clendening/Stanton pairing was hemmed in its own zone even more than the current Sbisa/Bieksa pairing? Those ones?

Becoming a little concerned that the Hawks might have been right about Clendening....decent AHL d-man, but lacking size or elite-level skating to do much in the NHL......will be interesting to monitor Forsling....hope this isn't one deal that bites us in the butt.
 
Becoming a little concerned that the Hawks might have been right about Clendening....decent AHL d-man, but lacking size or elite-level skating to do much in the NHL......will be interesting to monitor Forsling....hope this isn't one deal that bites us in the butt.

"Decent AHL d-man"

The guy made the rookie AHL all-star team his rookie year and the first AHL all-star team the next year. He is definitely a good prospect.
 
Sbieksa 57.46 corsi against per 60
Standening 56.36 CA/60

Not a huge difference given the sample size

Sbieksa 4.000+2.900m against per 82 games
Standening 0.550+ 0.818m against per 82 games

Found the difference
 
Clendening can pass the puck. You can see that that is something that can help him make the NHL.
 
"Decent AHL d-man"

The guy made the rookie AHL all-star team his rookie year and the first AHL all-star team the next year. He is definitely a good prospect.

Lots of guys put up points and make AHL all-star teams as d-men, but never transition to the NHL. T.J. Brennan, Stefan Elliot, Kyle Cumiskey....heck even Bobby Sanguinetti who has 15 goals and can can't get a sniff from the 'Nucks when half their d-corp was injured....Clendening's skating and battle-level in his own zone have to get way better, and keep in mind that next year the 'Nucks can't send him down without exposing him to waivers....with the way Vey is playing in VanCity these days, becoming less and less of a fan of trading future draft picks for guys who top-out as AHL all-stars.
 
Clendening can pass the puck. You can see that that is something that can help him make the NHL.

Clendening is a horrible skater, poor defensively and weak along the boards/ infront of the net. You can see these are some of the things that can help keep him out of the NHL.
 
Lots of guys put up points and make AHL all-star teams as d-men, but never transition to the NHL. T.J. Brennan, Stefan Elliot, Kyle Cumiskey....heck even Bobby Sanguinetti who has 15 goals and can can't get a sniff from the 'Nucks when half their d-corp was injured....Clendening's skating and battle-level in his own zone have to get way better, and keep in mind that next year the 'Nucks can't send him down without exposing him to waivers....with the way Vey is playing in VanCity these days, becoming less and less of a fan of trading future draft picks for guys who top-out as AHL all-stars.

You don't have to bat 1.000 to outperform those 2nd and 3rd round picks. Vey, Clendening, Baertschi and Pedan were acquired for 3 x 2nds and 1 x 3rd. If one of them becomes a top 4 D-man/Top 6 forward and another carves out a career in the bottom 6/Bottom pairing, they've way outperformed the average 2nd round pick. Plus, they're all going to provide NHL utility (imo) and for most of them AHL utility, which you don't always get out of picks in that range.

If Benning replaces those picks and a couple of those guys are hits... what's not to like?
 
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In fairness, clendening has only played 20 NHL games. This board tears most defensive prospects apart when they first make the jump. I'm pretty sure clendening is meant to be an elite pp specialist in the future, which means his passing an shot are far more important than skating. Anyways, lots of currently elite offensively based dmen were unproductive their first few yrs in the NHL. Example: Yandle
 
Lots of guys put up points and make AHL all-star teams as d-men, but never transition to the NHL. T.J. Brennan, Stefan Elliot, Kyle Cumiskey....heck even Bobby Sanguinetti who has 15 goals and can can't get a sniff from the 'Nucks when half their d-corp was injured....Clendening's skating and battle-level in his own zone have to get way better, and keep in mind that next year the 'Nucks can't send him down without exposing him to waivers....with the way Vey is playing in VanCity these days, becoming less and less of a fan of trading future draft picks for guys who top-out as AHL all-stars.

T.J. Brennan 1st&2nd seasons in the AHL
1st:6g 17a 23pts
2nd:15g 24a 39pts

Stefan Elliot 1st&2nd seasons in the AHL
1st:4g 9a 13pts
2nd:5g 9a 14pts

Kyle Cumiskey 1st&2nd seasons in the AHL
1st:6g 25a 33pts
2nd:made the NHL.

bobby Sanguinetti 1st&2nd seasons in the AHL
1st:6g 36a 42pts
2nd:9g 29a 38pts

Now compare that to Adam Clendening
1st:9g 37a 46pts (rookie all-star team)
2nd:12g 47a 59pts (1st all-star team)


In Clendening's second season in the AHL he was considered one of the best defenseman in that league at the age of 21....

Clendening is a good prospect. Defenseman prospects just take a while.
 
T.J. Brennan 1st&2nd seasons in the AHL
1st:6g 17a 23pts
2nd:15g 24a 39pts

Stefan Elliot 1st&2nd seasons in the AHL
1st:4g 9a 13pts
2nd:5g 9a 14pts

Kyle Cumiskey 1st&2nd seasons in the AHL
1st:6g 25a 33pts
2nd:made the NHL.

bobby Sanguinetti 1st&2nd seasons in the AHL
1st:6g 36a 42pts
2nd:9g 29a 38pts

Now compare that to Adam Clendening
1st:9g 37a 46pts (rookie all-star team)
2nd:12g 47a 59pts (1st all-star team)


In Clendening's second season in the AHL he was considered one of the best defenseman in that league at the age of 21....

Clendening is a good prospect. Defenseman prospects just take a while.


Looked up Clendening's draft profile from the '011 draft....concerns expressed were about his skating, size and physicality...was considered a draft day 'faller'....fast forward to '015....still concerns about skating, size and physicality....players are like leopards...only a few change their spots dramatically after their draft year...and even fewer de-men.
 
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Looked up Clendening's draft profile from the '011 draft....concerns expressed were about his skating, size and physicality...was considered a draft day 'faller'....fast forward to '015....still concerns about skating, size and physicality....players are like leopards...only a few change their spots dramatically after their draft year...and even fewer de-men.

I understand the concerns. But, I mean come on. If we drafted Clendening and he made the rookie ahl-allstar and 1st team All-star the next year we wouldn't be having this discussion.


As for the concerns. I understand if his skating/defensivezone/physicality is not that great. But, he makes up for that with his elite level offense. All he needs to do is tighten up his defense and then he'll be fine.

Even if he busts it's fine we gave up a minor asset for him. Forsling had the exact same issues as Clendening only worse.
 
I understand the concerns. But, I mean come on. If we drafted Clendening and he made the rookie ahl-allstar and 1st team All-star the next year we wouldn't be having this discussion.


As for the concerns. I understand if his skating/defensivezone/physicality is not that great. But, he makes up for that with his elite level offense. All he needs to do is tighten up his defense and then he'll be fine.

Even if he busts it's fine we gave up a minor asset for him. Forsling had the exact same issues as Clendening only worse.

Agree with your analysis...at this point there's no harm, no foul....but if Clendening ends up on the Canucks next year because he's waiver eligible and the 'Nucks don't want to lose him, then you're got the equivalent of Linden Vey on the blueline.....as for Forsling......who knows?....but the Hawks clearly thought he was a better bet for the NHL than the guy they traded.
 
Agree with your analysis...at this point there's no harm, no foul....but if Clendening ends up on the Canucks next year because he's waiver eligible and the 'Nucks don't want to lose him, then you're got the equivalent of Linden Vey on the blueline.....as for Forsling......who knows?....but the Hawks clearly thought he was a better bet for the NHL than the guy they traded.

Yeah Clendening will be the Linden Vey next year. Hoping he does better than Vey.

I don't actually think the Hawks thought that Forsling was the better player. They couldn't afford to lose Clendening to waivers so they traded for a prospect that they can have more time with. Forsling and Clendening are essentially the same kinds of players. Only that Forsling is younger and his waiver exemption eligibility doesn't run out next year.



All I am trying to say is that, if Clendening doesn't pan out it's fine. He's a boom/bust prospect. If he ends up busting it didn't cost the Canucks much. He's shown some talent when he was up with the Canucks I'd give him more time before I write him off.
 
Hawks appeared to begin to take notice on Forsling as a prospect when he was playing with fellow Hawk prospect Carl Dahlstrom (2013 2nd round pick) in Sweden

Actually I believe they continue to play as a pair
 

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