Clark was my favourite player for most of my life but has recently been overtaken by Dougie Gilmour.
In case you're wondering why I switched, I think Dougie was just too good and his career as a whole is so underrated that I've sort of become a champion for him. At the same time, Clark is usually overrated by people who are like I used to be. I also am not a fan of how "into" his fights he got. Sometimes he looked like he wanted to put the guy's head through the ice. Despite that, he was a fantastic fighter.
I've always thought Clark and Tocchet were about the same skill-wise, but Tocchet ultimately was what Clark could have, and should have become, if he didn't miss so many games with injuries and play so many games injured as well. Tocchet missed his share too, but I don't think it limited him to the degree that it limited Clark.
The unique thing about Clark and Tocchet, to me, is they were legitimate heavyweights who would fight (and beat up) anyone. Yeah, there have always been "power forwards" out there, Messiers, Shanahans, Tkachuks, Guerins, etc - but they tended to be middleweight fighters who would pick their spots. Clark and Tocchet would go toe to toe with the Dave Browns, Louie Debrusks, Behn Wilsons, and Bob Rouses of the league but they were also legitimate top-line forwards who could crack the top-20 in goals in a good year. The only other guy since 1980 who I think was like that, is Al Secord, another guy wrecked by injuries.