Toggle sidebar

News Article: Good one from The Athletic on Kyle Clifford

  • Work is still on-going to rebuild the site styling and features. Please report any issues you may experience so we can look into it. Click Here for Updates
KINGS17

KINGS17

Smartest in the Room
Apr 6, 2006
32,582
11,767
'He’s just an incredible human being' — Why Kyle...

It’s sometimes easy to forget that Clifford is one of the few remaining members on the Kings who has won two Cups. This is probably because he’s just 28 years old, the youngest of that bunch, and he is seen as more of a grinder than a star. But there’s gravitas with him and an unspoken level of respect that follows him around the team.

Clifford is a valuable asset going forward. It can go two ways:

1. A contending team will pay a premium for him at the trade deadline some day.

2. Clifford will be around riding shotgun for guys like Turcotte, etc. for the first couple years of their career.
Click to read more...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Raccoon Jesus, Legionnaire, King'sPawn and 3 others
As the 6-foot-2, 211-pound Clifford saw the speed of the game increase, he wanted to figure out how to get faster. So, according to Futa, he talked with the Kings about working more with skating coach Dave Cruikshank and development coach Craig Johnson, a former NHL speedster who helps the team with skating. The result this past season was a quicker more offensively explosive Clifford. He set a career-high with 11 goals and was the only full-time player who started and finished the season with the team who held a plus rating.

He seemed to be one of the few guys who didn’t appear fazed by L.A.’s quick drop-off at the start of the year and continued to grind.
Click to expand...

You keep him.

People complain about the culture in LA but then want to get rid of the people who positively affect the culture.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Telos, Rorschach, Raccoon Jesus and 6 others
The youngest of the 2 Cup guys, and also the first to finally be at the end of his 3rd contract. He sticks around until the deadline, trade him, and if he's willing to come back for less money than he's making now on a 1 year contract, bring him back, why not. If he wants more or multiple years, the Kings already gave him a Cup contract, so, peace out.
 
King'sPawn said:
You keep him.

People complain about the culture in LA but then want to get rid of the people who positively affect the culture.
Click to expand...

I've grown to like Clifford now, but as much as you can say he positively affects culture. It doesn't fix the cancer in the locker room starting from the important players.

No shade on Clifford but it means little if your top guys are ass.
 
Exactly what do people think Clifford is going to fetch at the trade deadline? Not exactly the kind of player that returns a first round pick. He’s probably worth more to the Kings than any other team. Also not gonna cost a lot on the cap.
 
Sol said:
I've grown to like Clifford now, but as much as you can say he positively affects culture. It doesn't fix the cancer in the locker room starting from the important players.

No shade on Clifford but it means little if your top guys are ass.
Click to expand...
Some of those guys won't be Kings forever. I think you have to keep at least some who are willing to work hard every day. Tough list to put together with this roster, and we don't see them practice enough to know which is which. Educated guesses are possible though, and I would include Clifford in the "let's keep him" list.
 
lumbergh said:
Exactly what do people think Clifford is going to fetch at the trade deadline? Not exactly the kind of player that returns a first round pick. He’s probably worth more to the Kings than any other team. Also not gonna cost a lot on the cap.
Click to expand...
I would say the best you can do in a trade with a contender is to get a younger version of Clifford who can't make the contender's roster.
 
I feel like Clifford at best would fetch a 3rd, maybe a 2nd at the deadline if teams are overpaying. But I feel like you have to keep him, he was one of the few guys who was going out there and playing his butt off every game this last season. That is the kind of influence I would want around all the young guys. The winning culture seems to have disappeared from this team, but I would not place that blame on Clifford. I would place the blame for this last season on Kopitar, Carter, Doughty, and Quick. They all played below what they were capable of.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kingspiracy
If he's playing at the same level he was last year, he'd return a decent draft pick.

Guy oozes character and has two Cup rings. Going to fit right in to physical, playoff hockey. Makes total sense that a young-ish team like Toronto was interested this last season. As a pure rental, he's probably worth more at this upcoming TDL.

If Fantenberg fetched a 4th, Clifford is at least a 3rd.
 
I’d deal Clifford under two conditions: 1. He is okay with being traded, and 2. He agrees to re-sign in the offseason.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KingCanadain1976
BigKing said:
He should be flipped at the TDL and then just come back in the off-season.

There isn't a rule against that now, is there?
Click to expand...
He’s exactly the dude that would rubberband back to us. The acquiring team wouldn’t be able to wash that tattoo off his behind.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom