After the recent resigning of forward Jordan Nolan to a two-year, $1.4M contract, it left just two players to re-sign for general manager Dean Lombardi.
One of those players is Trevor Lewis, the other is Kyle Clifford.
Now it seems that the Kings current cap situation leaves a meager $1.57M dollars to work with in retaining both players. It would take some shifty maneuvering by Lombardi and something along the lines of signing both before camp and shedding some sort of salary when it comes time to getting cap compliant come season.
Let’s forget about all the numbers, the cap space and the depth chart for just a moment though and bring this down to a simple question: If you had to choose to resign one of them, who would it be? Disregard cap hit and contract, at the end of the day who would you take?
Maybe this isn’t the fairest of questions because the aforementioned things are indeed huge factors. How the player fits into your team scheme and the money available are always important in a contractual decision with a player. For fun, let’s break this down into a simple dodge ball situation where you got two guys left and one spot to fill. Who do you pick?
When looking at both Kyle Clifford and Trevor Lewis, the thing that stood out to me at first was just how different a skill set each player brings to the table. I mean, you could really define your fourth line in very different ways based on what these two players are capable of.
First let’s go with Lewis. A former first-round draft pick with a rather lofty comparison to Rod Brind’Amour laid upon him by scouts, he progressed through the minors and after three years at age 24 was a mainstay NHL player. Never really known for his offensive power, Lewis was rather a two-way specialist with blinding speed and a leadership quality about him. He topped out at 51 points in the AHL in 2010 and has never cracked the 20 point mark of the NHL, although he was on pace to do so in 2012-13 if a full 82-game season had been played.
As he has aged Lewis has grown in his physical play and slowly improved his hit total year after year (102, 117, on pace for around 155). He’s become a staple on the Kings penalty kill along with increasing his shot blocking totals, a stat he was second in among King forwards last season. Lewis is playing the game smarter as he progresses and putting himself in better position to make plays defensively. While his offensive numbers are still low, last year was a bit of a breakout as he would have finished north of 20 points and 10 goals. However, as most Kings fans will tell you, if Lewis had the hands he’d be a 20 goal scorer already. It’s not uncommon to see him get a breakaway or beat defenders with speed, but his lack of finish leads to a rather anticlimactic finish, most often in the high and wide variety. Nonetheless, Lewis uses his speed to give defenders fits by getting in on the forecheck quick and making them act faster than they want to. He’s also a versatile forward who can play center and both wings.
If there is one play that effectively sums up the style of play for Lewis, it would have to be the memorable penultimate play of the Game 5 Jarret Stoll overtime clincher against the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011-12 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He does most of the work on the play but gets little of the glory when all is said and done.
Now let’s talk Kyle Clifford. One word: destructive. To others, to himself, to everything, Clifford is just one big wrecking ball. At age 19, after being selected in the 2009 2nd round, Clifford bypassed the AHL and went straight in with the Kings, surprising a lot of scouts. At this juncture he is 22 years old and four years younger than Lewis. However, with Clifford you have to wonder with his playing style if his career will have the longevity of a Trevor Lewis. That being said Clifford brings more to the table than just nasty. He’s already put together three seasons that topple Lewis in points. He shows more skill than just your typical grinder and it wouldn’t be out of the question to think that Clifford may be capable of a 20-20 season at his absolute, top-end, best. He throws the body at almost every occasion, and will drop the gloves in both defense of a teammate and to just straight stir something up. However, this is a double edged sword as Clifford has more times than once been dinged to the point of having to miss a few games (Take a gander at the video about halfway down the page of the
Carcillo article to see what I mean). He also has a nasty habit of taking far too many stick fouls because of ill-discipline or just plain getting beat on a play. He can be a defensive liability at times with his aggressive play, but that comes with the territory of his style.
Despite the detractors, Clifford is your ideal nasty fourth-liner that teams just dread lining up against. At the age of 22, Clifford could still even develop into a third-line forward with a more consistent offensive contribution and more focus on his defensive game. He is capable of plays like this, and if it could become a consistent thing...yikes.
So in summary,
Lewis
+Defensive/Penalty kill specialist
+Versatility
+Killer speed
-Limited offensive output
Clifford
+Nasty
+Offensive upside
+Age/development (4 years younger than Lewis)
-Defensive liability at times
-Injuries
My verdict? I’m a fan of both players and what they bring to the game. I personally have a preference to Lewis just because I feel like every team needs a player of his style. A defensive specialist as sound as Lewis is really hard to come by these days, whereas the style Kyle Clifford plays is becoming a norm in the new NHL. It does ultimately come down to system and mentality and what type of player you want to employ. In a perfect world you could have both, but it might not be a perfect world for the Kings right now. It’s also not part of the game I’ve asked you to play right now...so play by the rules!
Now let’s hear it. Who would you choose? Let the debate begin.
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