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For the second consecutive year, the New Jersey Devils are at risk of losing one of the top players on their team to unrestricted free agency.
David Clarkson is no Zach Parise, but he is a very useful player who can do a lot of different things. Whether he stays in New Jersey or tests the open market, one thing is certain: Clarkson is going to get paid(!) this summer.
Here are five reasons to back that statement up:
1. His production rivals elite power forwards
Though the majority of Clarkson's offensive production this season came at the start the year, his overall numbers put him in a group with some of the top power forwards in the game.
Let's take a look at players with at least 15 goals and 70PIMs this season and their respective cap hits:
Evander Kane: 17 goals, 80PIMs - Cap hit: $5.25 million
Wayne Simmonds: 15 goals, 82PIMs - Cap hit: $1.75 million - $3.95 million starting next season
Clarkson: 15 goals, 78PIMs - Cap hit: $2.67 million - soon to be much more
Corey Perry: 15 goals, 72PIMs - Cap hit: $4.895 million - $8.625 million starting next season
That's the complete list of players who scored at least 15 goals and had 70+ PIMs this season. Four players. You can bet Clarkson will be looking to be paid like the rest of those guys.
2. He scores goals
Forget about everything else he does or doesn't bring to the table, Clarkson scores goals. Most of them aren't pretty, but he puts the puck in the net. Clarkson has 45 goals over his last 128 games. In a league where teams are always looking for more offense, that gets noticed.
3. He's durable
Despite Clarkson playing a rough and tumble style and never being afraid to lay the body on someone or drop the mitts, he rarely ever misses games. Clarkson has missed a grand total of two games over the last three seasons. Two games out of the last 212 for one of the more physical players in the league. That's impressive, and when Clarkson's looking for a big wad of cash this summer I'm sure it'll be brought up.
4. You know what you're getting
Clarkson isn't a perfect player. He's not the best of skaters, he falls down a lot, he's sometimes very predictable and he goes through longer rough patches in terms of producing offense than you'd hope. That said, you know what you're getting from him each and every night. He battles hard, is always in your face and will go to the dirty areas of the ice with no hesitation. He'll stick up for teammates, play a physical style and, when he's on, he'll score a good chunk of goals, too. Teams always want players who compete and if he's available in July, there will be a nice lineup of teams ready to send trucks of money to his doorstep.
5. Teams always overpay in free agency
Teams are always desperate enough to overpay for free agents in July. If a General Manager thinks a certain player can help their team, said GM will throw loads of cash at said player to try and get him to sign there. This year's free agent crop is nothing to get excited about, so if Clarkson's available you can bet a boat load of GM's will be throwing wads of cash at him. He plays physical, had 30 goals last year and 15 in a 48 game season this year. That's attractive.
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Clarkson and his agent know they can get a ton of money in free agency and if Lou Lamoriello isn't willing to pay what Clarkson wants (I'm not sure he should) then his days as a Devil are likely over. Either way, Clarkson's going to get paid big money this summer.
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I wrote a scouting report on 2013 draft eligible and projected top-10 pick, Sean Monahan, at TheHockeyGuys. You can
view that report here.
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