TSN's article on Clarkson.

[Colin226]

Wasn't TSN one of the leaders in the "Clarkson is the #1 free agent" campaign?

That's why they get paid to talk and speculate, not make decisions. Then, when a player they touted as being great ends up bombing, they like to grill the guy and pretend their previous "analysis" never existed.

Like HFBoards' armchair GMs

 

[Mansfield]

http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2015/1/22/7867635/david-clarkson-is-a-balrog-he-cannot-pass

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1114561&highlight=david+clarkson

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1124009&highlight=david+clarkson

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1128577&highlight=david+clarkson


Its always fun looking back

 

[redbull]

This makes me think you don't know what you're talking about. Luke Schenn is worth his relatively marginal contract. He's a solid bottom three D. MDZ has very good puck skills and has been one of our two best D this year (though, that's not saying much) and entirely worth his entirely marginal contract. Streit is very good for us and has been, as you said. The only one not worth his contract in the slightest is MacDonald.

It's also pretty hypocritical and self-centered to think other fans can't have different views of the same player from different years, just because he played for your team prior.

Don't be so sensitive, was not my intent to criticize the Flyers specifically (though i did mention them!).

My intent wasn't to criticize any specific team or fan base, if you're a Flyers fan (an assumption on my part) and you take issue with those specific players. I only mention the Flyers (and Leafs) since they are teams that aggressively chase UFAs & trades, have high payrolls/cap with poor results and limited roster flexibility as a result. Add underperforming players and you have problems.

Fans (and media) that watch players every day know far more about the relative strengths and weaknesses of a player than fans of other teams by a wide margin. When my team acquires a player, I can learn a hell of a lot from visiting the other team's board. They are usually bang-on in their analysis (if you read carefully and sift through the noise)

And yes, players can change from one year to another, from one organization to another as well....but my point is that Jersey fans are not surprised by how Clarkson is playing in Toronto, Isles fans are not surprised how Moulson, MacDonald, Streit are playing on their respective teams.

That's not just my opinion, if you visit boards of the other teams, you can hear from THEIR OWN fans, that do watch them every day.

I'm glad you're happy with Luke Schenn, I'm surprised. I know he's been a healthy scratch and aside from his contract, treading JVR for him doesn't appear like the team's happy with the player. I suspect there are a lot of Flyer fans that were expecting more when that deal was made. Ditto for AMac in terms of expectations. You're right about MDZ, bad example on my part - he doesn't exactly fit into a "mistake"

 

[Territory]

Lets be real Clarkson isn't "terrible" there are a lot of players in the NHL that he is better then.

The problem is he makes so much money which is why he hurts the team. If he made half the amount, he would be worth having on your team.

Not being as good as your contract =/= terrible player.

 

[Classicnamesup]

^^ Someone said he might hit 50 LOL, maybe he meant in his career

 

[Knave]

Wasn't TSN one of the leaders in the "Clarkson is the #1 free agent" campaign?

Oh yes, and my GM was infatuated with him along with the Edmonton GM.

Thank god Clarkson is loyal to Toronto. People want to play this off as a Nonis mistake and it is but for some reason a lot of old school hockey thinkers really loved Clarkson and were willing to pay him lots of money with a lengthy term.

 

[Garbage Goal]

My intent wasn't to criticize any specific team or fan base, if you're a Flyers fan (an assumption on my part) and you take issue with those specific players. I only mention the Flyers (and Leafs) since they are teams that aggressively chase UFAs & trades, have high payrolls/cap with poor results and limited roster flexibility as a result. Add underperforming players and you have problems.

Your description describes most, if not all, non playoff teams that spend to the cap.

Apologies for getting defensive though, I'm on edge so I came off more aggressive then intended.

Fans (and media) that watch players every day know far more about the relative strengths and weaknesses of a player than fans of other teams by a wide margin. When my team acquires a player, I can learn a hell of a lot from visiting the other team's board. They are usually bang-on in their analysis (if you read carefully and sift through the noise)

Very true, I do the same thing.

And yes, players can change from one year to another, from one organization to another as well....but my point is that Jersey fans are not surprised by how Clarkson is playing in Toronto, Isles fans are not surprised how Moulson, MacDonald, Streit are playing on their respective teams.

In this topic at least, it seems like the NJ and Toronto thoughts on Clarkson are quite different. Toronto fans seem to notice that Clarkson doesn't have strong board play or physical presence whereas NJ fans seem to be saying otherwise and thinking he can be a top six player in the right system/team.

I'm glad you're happy with Luke Schenn, I'm surprised. I know he's been a healthy scratch and aside from his contract, treading JVR for him doesn't appear like the team's happy with the player. I suspect there are a lot of Flyer fans that were expecting more when that deal was made. Ditto for AMac in terms of expectations. You're right about MDZ, bad example on my part - he doesn't exactly fit into a "mistake"

On Schenn, what he was traded for with doesn't reflect on the quality of his play or his contract. It's all separate things. As for healthy scratches, it's not a consistent thing and our coach is god awful in that he consistently makes extremely idiotic lineup and ice-time decisions. Luke Schenn is what he is, a stable bottom three D that doesn't stand out in any exceptional way, but is steady and stable with the right D partner as well as coaching. His contract isn't exorbitant or outrageous. Not a lot of reason to hate him.

The AMac contract is egregiously stupid and a lot of fans were very wary of it as soon as the deal was made, not even a whole season into the new deal and most of us hate it. It was also made by a previous GM notorious for cap mismanagement and risky contracts.

 

[saffronleaf]

At this point this is just beating a dead horse. The point has been made that he doesn't live up to his contract and this "new" article just repeats what has been said a million time.

Move on.

It's not about him not living up to his contract. It's about how he shouldn't even be in the NHL. He sucks that badly.

 

[PuckSeparator]

Lets be real Clarkson isn't "terrible" there are a lot of players in the NHL that he is better then.

The problem is he makes so much money which is why he hurts the team. If he made half the amount, he would be worth having on your team.

Not being as good as your contract =/= terrible player.

Yeah, who? I can't think of many 4th liners he's better than. It's a disastrous contract for a disastrous player, there's no 2 ways about it.

 

[saffronleaf]

He might be the pound for pound dumbest player in the National Hockey League

Might?

Easily. He's the dumbest player of all-time in the NHL.

 

[XX]

The problem with guaranteed contracts strikes again...part 237.

Plenty of other teams are capable of not making a signing that bad. It's more like "the problem with unlimited resources in Toronto."

 

[The Thin White Duke]

Might?

Easily. He's the dumbest player of all-time in the NHL.

I'm starting to think he's in the NHL by accident. Like he was showing up for his first day as a minor league janitor's assistant and went to the wrong room by accident, and nobody bothered to check if he was actually on the roster. It would explain why it looks like he just learned to skate a few years ago and he's still getting the hang of it.

He's earning approx 4 million / season more than he should on a longterm contract and has a NMC. Who's the dumb one?

His hometown hates him and he'll probably go down as one of the biggest mistakes in his childhood team's history. His agent on the other hand is absolutely brilliant for that contract though, it's bulletproof.

 

[FanHabtic*]

Might?

Easily. He's the dumbest player of all-time in the NHL.

He's earning approx 4 million / season more than he should on a longterm contract and has a NMC. Who's the dumb one?

 

[Leafidelity]

He's earning approx 4 million / season more than he should on a longterm contract and has a NMC. Who's the dumb one?

Nonis?

Do you think this is news to us?

 

[WarriorofTime]

I remember this time last year there was a lot of "he's the kinda guy who will show his value in the playoffs" posts.

 

[wilty00]

Your daily reminder that the guy has a no-movement clause.

Good lord.

 

[Kimota]

I remember more than a few times as an outsider reading the Devils board and seeing many posters saying Clarkson sucked and had terrible hockey sense. Some of them even saying he was "finished". Many hated him. So when he became UFA I knew he would get great offers cause of the perceived guy he wasn't, which is gritty and skilled. But I kept hearing alarm bells all over that if there was one UFA a team would overpay and get burned by signing him it was him. A few months later, the song returned but it was Leafs' fans singing it.

 

[Semantics]

I watched Clarkson play his first seven professional years of hockey. I know much more about his play in NJ than you do.

Who cares? I know much more about hockey than you do. Anybody can watch games, it doesn't mean anything if your analysis is all wrong.

Much of his success with NJ came playing third line minutes with average to below average talent. His 22 ES goals in 11-12 were primarily with guys like Ponikarovsky / Tedenby / Josefson / Carter. Not exactly marquee talent.

He had 18 5v5 goals that year and 7 of them came with Elias, more than any other player. The next most was Sykora with 6. Then those players.

Hilarious that you watched all those games only to be proven wrong in 5 seconds of looking at hockeyanalysis.com.

And his assist numbers are pretty much just as dreadful that season as they have been in Toronto.

Your example with goons is pretty funny because it relies on an extremely small sample of 300 ES minutes skewing results upwards for Orr. If you were to include any other year in the sample Orr's PTS/60 would plummet. Pretty strong selection bias there, huh?

I chose the two most recent seasons both players have played in, no bias. If Orr's not good enough for you, the same holds true for Frazer McLaren, Jerry D'Amigo, Carter Ashton, or any number of other scrubs. Clarkson is a pure scrub.

In the right system with the right coach, Clarkson is an effective player. He could score 25 goals for some teams in this league without being viewed as an anchor in other facets of the game. Toronto is just not the right fit.

The very fact that you have to put him in "the right system with the right coach" for him to be anything more than absolute garbage shows what a terrible player he is. Any player who can't play at at least replacement level under any system or any coach is a 4th liner at best.

Like, listen to yourself. You're basically saying that he's only able to score goals if he's playing in a system designed to coddle a no-talent loser like him, and you admitted that he can't do anything else besides finish the occasional play set up by his teammates. If that's not the very definition of a useless player who mooches off his linemates doing all the work, I don't know what is. You've basically just proven my point.

 

[Semantics]

I remember this time last year there was a lot of "he's the kinda guy who will show his value in the playoffs" posts.

"He missed training camp and started off behind and never got his confidence back. He'll bounce back next year!"

 

[billingtons ghost]

The only idiots in this whole enterprise are those who didn't immediately recognize how ridiculous the contract was the second the ink dried.

Clarktard at 2.5m without all of the expectations is a decent guy to have falling down and performing the occasional clarkaround, or standing in front of the net on the pp and having pucks bounce off his arse.

The rest of the world simply shook its head in disbelief at the Wendell clarkson gloss.

The punch line is that this only going to get worse.

Lol at the rage of the bloggers, and the 'defensive specialist' take. Hah. Clarktard was the guy you send to the box to serve the extra minor or too many men... He has always been a liability.

So, mr blogger, your blindness to the obvious facts is whose problem, exactly?

 

[billingtons ghost]

I remember this time last year there was a lot of "he's the kinda guy who will show his value in the playoffs" posts.

The leafs should try that out... Oh...right.

 

[billingtons ghost]

I remember more than a few times as an outsider reading the Devils board and seeing many posters saying Clarkson sucked and had terrible hockey sense. Some of them even saying he was "finished". Many hated him. So when he became UFA I knew he would get great offers cause of the perceived guy he wasn't, which is gritty and skilled. But I kept hearing alarm bells all over that if there was one UFA a team would overpay and get burned by signing him it was him. A few months later, the song returned but it was Leafs' fans singing it.

We loved him the way you love the little Pejorative Slured kid down the street. Completely aware of his vast limitations and flaws, and completely amazed and thankful when he does something awesome. But for Pete's sake, please don't make him the cornerstone of anything. At 700k or whatever, 30 goals plus a bunch of fights is like a Christmas miracle.

At 5m it is like the start of a tragic comedy movie script. Like a dumb and dumber movie where Jim Carey ends up as president.

Can't skate, can't think, can't pass. Did he just toe drag and snipe? Wha?

 

[Caesium]

Why can't he be bought out?

Most of his salary is actually bonuses that don't get reduced in a buyout. The cost of buying him out is around $4.7 million for 5 years and then $500k for the next 5 years. It doesn't save any cap space and hurts the team for a decade.

 

[MooseDupont]

Mike Richards is about to become Clarkson part 2 if we are to believe that is what Nonis is doing in NH. "scouting"