Jared Crozier: Is there still a question mark on Clarke MacArthur for coming season?

Fist

How many fingers am I holding up?

Jared Crozier: Is there still a question mark on Clarke MacArthur for coming season?
- JaredCrozier

best thing for the Sens is if he retires. he's on the wrong side of a players prime years and isn't getting younger. he's signed for 3 more seasons. Has health issues. Has played only 8 regular season games the last two seasons. Got 0 points in those games. Played 19 games in the playoffs sure but was scoring at a pace of 12-13 goals over an 82 game season. His best years are behind him. Cut ties and move on. He should think of his health and do what he can to avoid having his brain be as useful as a bowl of cereal in 20 years.

Sens may be desperate for the offense but use his almost 5 million per to find another guy who may score 20 but can at least be counted on more reliably. To be fair Jared I don't think you can look back 3-6 years and expect that same production from the player he is today. Years have passed since then and he's gotten older and more fragile.

How many fingers am I holding up?
- Larry_Fine

Zero... your holding up fist

best thing for the Sens is if he retires. he's on the wrong side of a players prime years and isn't getting younger. he's signed for 3 more seasons. Has health issues. Has played only 8 regular season games the last two seasons. Got 0 points in those games. Played 19 games in the playoffs sure but was scoring at a pace of 12-13 goals over an 82 game season. His best years are behind him. Cut ties and move on. He should think of his health and do what he can to avoid having his brain be as useful as a bowl of cereal in 20 years.

Sens may be desperate for the offense but use his almost 5 million per to find another guy who may score 20 but can at least be counted on more reliably. To be fair Jared I don't think you can look back 3-6 years and expect that same production from the player he is today. Years have passed since then and he's gotten older and more fragile.
- Gunslinger

Agree completely....would help the sens payroll issues if he retired....great story but too much money for waht he can produce at this stage of his career

You guys are heartless..... for all we know he'll come back and have a season like he played in the playoffs.

Considering he hadn't played in 2 years, it was better than expected.

If his head is fit to play, he showed his body is.... and he won't play if he isn't right in the head....

He really needs to retire. If he doesn't already have CTE, the next concussion will do it.

Have to say every time he was on the ice i would cringe when he was hit. But Clarke knows his body best i am sure he will make the appropriate decision . I think his presence helped Ryan out,i believe they are good friends and i think he is Phaneuf's cousin and his presence helped him as well. Overall a good addition to the Sens

Best case would be retirement for the Sens. But I'm actually fine with almost all scenarios here.

#1. He retires, Sens gt him off the books and he stays with the team in some sort of a role in an office.
#2. He plays, gets his 20-25 goals and does well for the rest of his contract
#3. He plays, does okay and we add him into some sort of a trade for something better

All great options
Only two bad options.
#1. He comes back and get injured and has serious damage for the rest of his life
#2. He comes back and can't keep up anymore.

It's interesting that the article implies that the question marks around MacArthur are debatable, and suggests that he brings consistency... I'd actually argue that his current status makes him almost uniquely volatile in the context of being a member of a NHL roster heading into training camp. He could literally come and go from the lineup at any point this year, and a single hit could flat-out end his career. Plus, tying up $4.7M/yr for the next 3 seasons on a team with an internal budget limits the team's cap flexibility, and prevents them from bringing in additional scoring line support.

That said, it's pretty clear that when he's healthy he brings a lot of positives to the lineup, and makes the scoring lines noticeably more effective. His story is also undeniably inspirational, and combined with the perseverance of Anderson's family contributes to the team's character and determination. So hopefully MacArthur will bring these positives to the team this year, but it would be borderline naive for the team not to be prepared to deal with the realities of his situation in a way that doesn't jeopardize their season.