Confirmed with Link: Nathan Horton to Toronto for David Clarkson

[Kev22]

Of course JK gets the blame, he's the GM. We certainly dont know who made the call, but regardless, when youre the GM, youre ultimately responsible. Now if it was JD or JP that made the call, then we're in even more trouble since JK will end up just being a puppet and not able to make decisions. But again, thats his choice in accepting the job and taking responsibility for the decision

I'm not defending Jarmo, but when you have layers of authority above you, not so sure he should take the blame.

 

[BluejacketNut]

I'm not defending Jarmo, but when you have layers of authority above you, not so sure he should take the blame.

Not really saying you were, just stating that he's the GM, so in most cases theyre the decision makers, so not overly surprising he would be taking the blame

 

[niflheim]

Of course JK gets the blame, he's the GM. We certainly dont know who made the call, but regardless, when youre the GM, youre ultimately responsible. Now if it was JD or JP that made the call, then we're in even more trouble since JK will end up just being a puppet and not able to make decisions. But again, thats his choice in accepting the job and taking responsibility for the decision

102% true. /See Carter case -President Priest made decision, GM Howson was fired/

 

[CBJWerenski8]

This wasn't given enough love.

 

[Columbus Mike]

With all the anger flying around I don't think I saw anyone mention how much it would have cost to insure Horton. I can't imagine such a policy is very cheap. Does anyone know?

 

[CapnCornelius]

Fair enough. Everyone seems to want to put the blame on Jarmo. Personally, I feel that's pretty short sighted, there's many people pulling the puppet strings on this one. Could be Priest, could be JD. How did ownership play in this?

I don't want to put the blame on Jarmo. I want someone to ask the question and I think the question must be answered--who made the decision? Jarmo? JD? Or did the business/ownership side insert itself into this decision?

I've already placed my wager that Mike Priest is the culprit.

 

[CapnCornelius]

With all the anger flying around I don't think I saw anyone mention how much it would have cost to insure Horton. I can't imagine such a policy is very cheap. Does anyone know?

Less than the difference between the salaries of Cam Atkinson and David Clarkson, that's for sure.

 

[JacketsDavid]

I doubt if the CBJ has the $$$ to buy him out - hope I'm wrong. But Clarkson will likely be a Jacket for 3-4 seasons until we can finally dump him for a longer-term bad contract

 

[We Want Ten]

With all the anger flying around I don't think I saw anyone mention how much it would have cost to insure Horton. I can't imagine such a policy is very cheap. Does anyone know?

Its gonna end up to be about 36 million dollars now.

 

[CapnCornelius]

I doubt if the CBJ has the $$$ to buy him out - hope I'm wrong. But Clarkson will likely be a Jacket for 3-4 seasons until we can finally dump him for a longer-term bad contract

Zero chance of a buy-out.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...nd-his-buyout-proof-contract/article17783243/

We didn't want to keep paying Horton to not play, we didn't make this trade to save $2.7 million.

 

[Columbus Mike]

Yes, I know in hindsight it was a costly error. I'm not defending it, but it's not like this was a $1,000 add-on to some policy. Would $500K cover it?

 

[BluejacketNut]

Of course not, but if it was too expensive, that should have been a red flag. Instead, we decided to sign him for 7 years. The definition of moronic says "see CBJ"

 

[Cyclones Rock]

While it would be nice to know the decision making process on this unreal negligence, the hockey side of the equation (JK and JD) still bear the burden of the contract. They were the ones who signed a player with a significant injury and a significant history of injuries. If they couldn't get those who needed to sign off on insurance, then they should have passed on Horton. Period.

Insurance should have been an easy sell to anyone higher up the food chain if that was part of the process.

At risk was the cumulative equivalent of over 50% of one year's salary cap over the term of the contract. Given the nature of: a) Horton's injury history b) the often violent nature of the game of hockey c) the amount of money being allocated toward this one player, the FO could have easily built a case for the necessity of insuring at least a significant portion (no less than 50%) of this contract.

If the game plan was to opt out the first year and then insure the remainder of the contract, the level of "penny wise/pound foolishness" demonstrated is almost comical. Except it's not very funny.

John Davidson is looking more and more like an empty suit....all flash and dash. Jarmo is looking more and more like a scouting guy who has Peter Principled due to JD's cronyism. St. Louis passed on him as GM and got rid of JD as well. Perhaps they knew more about these two than Priest and McConnell. The pitiful risk assessment and management of this contract is alarming.

Only the most enthusiastic of FO apologists can have much faith in the Broadcaster and the Scout at this point. Dumb and Dumber, if your prefer.

 

[BluejacketNut]

They were the ones who signed a player with a significant injury and a significant history of injuris.

This is the most dumbfounding part about it. Not only did he have a significant injury history, he also HAD a significant injury at the time, yet decided to go uninsured.

 

[niflheim]

Yes, I know in hindsight it was a costly error. I'm not defending it, but it's not like this was a $1,000 add-on to some policy. Would $500K cover it?

You are right. During last lockout KHL club Metalurg asked about Crosby possible playing ( Geno then played in Metalurg) and was informed that insurance coverage for Sydney about $200-400K/month ( depending from number of games, etc). Natan insurance is not high, but probably about $500 +/-100 K

 

[BluejacketNut]

You are right. During last lockout KHL club Metalurg asked about Crosby possible playing ( Geno then played in Metalurg) and was informed that insurance coverage for Sydney about $200-400K/month ( depending from number of games, etc). Natan insurance is not high, but probably about $500 +/-100 K

And yet they were smart enough not to sign him

 

[MrKelso]

A little late on the post but...

I liked the trade. Doesn't make sense paying that much money to a guy who may never play again.

Clarkson might not be the guy he was a few years ago, but you never know in these situations, sometimes a change of scenery can help him out. I have not seen him play much but from what I understand his physical style will fit our offense. We need more guys that will get dirty down around the net. I'm excited to see how he meshes with Johansen, Jenner, Foligno, Hartnell and Dubinsky.

We traded an injured player whose barely touched the ice the last two seasons, for a guy whose proven he score 30+ goals. To me that's not bad.

Hopefully he can be an asset for this team.

 

[niflheim]

Did Horton have a full MRI before we signed him? If not, why not?
Did we know about the back? If not, why not?
When did we find out about the back?

Serious questions
and I am ( billion times) sorry, but today our medical staff looks like

 

[Mr Shanahan]

Clarkson will return to form and put up 25 goals next year....Toronto fans will look stupid for the 3rd time regarding him.

I'd say that you are correct, except Clarkson's form is NOT 25 goals. He has eclipsed 17 ONE time, and has scored at a 25+ goal pace twice over 8 full seasons in the league.

As much as you could argue that he could be a 25-30 goal player at his max (45 goals in 128 last two seasons on Devils), I can say that he is an 8-10 goal player at his max (15 in 118 on Leafs).

David Clarkson literally does not posses the skills of a top-6 winger, let alone a 25 goal scorer.

List of things David Clarkson can do:
- be a net presence
- protect the puck along the boards
- take a wrist shot from the slot
- lay a hit on a defender who has already made a pass out of the zone

List of things David Clarkson cannot do:
- receive a pass cleanly
- deliver a crisp, tape-to-tape pass
- take a slap shot
- take a snap shot
- handle the puck in front of the net well enough to do anything with his net presence
- win board battles unless he gets there first +
- skate at a top-6 level, thus:
- dump the puck and retrieve it

Man, I cannot believe we found a taker. Jarmo will look stupid for not just trading the Leafs a draft pick along with Horton to clear his salary.

 

[BluejacketNut]

A little late on the post but...

I liked the trade. Doesn't make sense paying that much money to a guy who may never play again.

Clarkson might not be the guy he was a few years ago, but you never know in these situations, sometimes a change of scenery can help him out. I have not seen him play much but from what I understand his physical style will fit our offense. We need more guys that will get dirty down around the net. I'm excited to see how he meshes with Johansen, Jenner, Foligno, Hartnell and Dubinsky.

We traded an injured player whose barely touched the ice the last two seasons, for a guy whose proven he score 30+ goals. To me that's not bad.

Hopefully he can be an asset for this team.

He scored 30 goals once, then 80 in the next 8 years. He's not a 30 goal scorer, more like a 10 goal a year scorer, i wouldnt get too excited about that

 

[MrKelso]

I guess I'm just trying to be optimistic about the situation.

All I had read on Horton was that his career was (and still is) in serious jeopardy.

 

[CapnCornelius]

Yes, I know in hindsight it was a costly error. I'm not defending it, but it's not like this was a $1,000 add-on to some policy. Would $500K cover it?

Assuming the NHL coverage is similar to the NBA's, it appears its is 4% of the player's salary.

http://www.economist.com/news/finan...ulations-behind-insurance-athletes-claim-game

So, $200,000 against $5,000,000. Pretty modest cost to hedge your bet with an often injured player who apparently could have been covered for head injuries notwithstanding his prior concussions. To me, that alone warranted insurance.

 

[Zippy316]

I'd say that you are correct, except Clarkson's form is NOT 25 goals. He has eclipsed 17 ONE time, and has scored at a 25+ goal pace twice over 8 full seasons in the league.

As much as you could argue that he could be a 25-30 goal player at his max (45 goals in 128 last two seasons on Devils), I can say that he is an 8-10 goal player at his max (15 in 118 on Leafs).

David Clarkson literally does not posses the skills of a top-6 winger, let alone a 25 goal scorer.

List of things David Clarkson can do:
- be a net presence
- protect the puck along the boards
- take a wrist shot from the slot
- lay a hit on a defender who has already made a pass out of the zone

List of things David Clarkson cannot do:
- receive a pass cleanly
- deliver a crisp, tape-to-tape pass
- take a slap shot
- take a snap shot
- handle the puck in front of the net well enough to do anything with his net presence
- win board battles unless he gets there first +
- skate at a top-6 level, thus:
- dump the puck and retrieve it

Man, I cannot believe we found a taker. Jarmo will look stupid for not just trading the Leafs a draft pick along with Horton to clear his salary.

Wrap-a-rounds and toe-drag shot are noticeably missing from your first list. You are pretty harsh on him though. He's a garbage goal scorer with a pretty good wrist shot and he's not as bad along the boards as you say -- his awkward skating doesn't help him in that respect though.

As a Devils fan, I would put it at this. Clarkson is a nice player to add on your third line and on your second line he could put up some numbers with the right guys. I could see him being a 20 goal scorer if used in the right situations.

However, he's not a 5.25 million dollar player and not for that long. However, this deal makes total sense given where the Blue Jackets are with Horton's uninsured contract. It's better to have a body playing for that much money then not.

 

[CapnCornelius]

While it would be nice to know the decision making process on this unreal negligence, the hockey side of the equation (JK and JD) still bear the burden of the contract. They were the ones who signed a player with a significant injury and a significant history of injuries. If they couldn't get those who needed to sign off on insurance, then they should have passed on Horton. Period.

I'd concede the point except for the fact we already have heard rumblings that Mike Priest forced Howson's hand on Carter. No reason to believe he couldn't have done the same on Horton. What would JD and JK do at that point? Resign?

 

[We Want Ten]

I guess I'm just trying to be optimistic about the situation.

All I had read on Horton was that his career was (and still is) in serious jeopardy.

When you take a "something is better than nothing" approach to it, you are right to be optimistic.

When you look at it from "how the hell did we end up in this position in the first place" approach, well, patience starts to run thin and no amount of excuses from the FO or beat reporters, or 7 goal seasons at better than 5mill are gonna make it better.

And when people say we will just buy him out, we will be paying out to him untill 2024 .