Leafs' Clarkson on disappointing debut season in Toronto: 'I'm looking forward to what's ahead'
Toronto Maple Leafs forward David Clarkson is just a year removed from being the prized offseason free agent acquisition of his hometown club, touted in a hockey mad market as the second coming of iconic Maple Leafs forward Wendell Clark. After his performance in his initial season in blue and white was an Ishtar quality flop, he'll enter his second season in Toronto with much lower expectations.
In 60 games with the Maple Leafs, Clarkson scored just five goals, managed 11 total points, and earned two suspensions from the NHL Department of Player Safety. The 30-year-old is signed to a deal that already looks like one of the worst contracts in hockey, has six more years of term remaining, and is essentially "buyout-proof".
Clarkson knows that he'll have to be better in his second season in Toronto, and he's vowed to leave the wreckage of his nightmarish 2013-14 season in the rearview mirror.
"It’s not a secret, right?" Clarkson said of his struggles in a conversation with Luke Fox of Sportsnet.ca. "At the end of the season, I obviously wasn’t happy. No season goes the same, so you have to find a way to figure things out.
"So I went back to work right away and have been training as hard as I ever have," Clarkson continued. "That’s what you have to do. There’s no summer where you train less than the one before. You look at how things went and work from there."
Clarkson saw his ice-time reduced precipitously in Toronto, and the Maple Leafs were outscored by 12 goals when he was on the ice at even-strength. While some of his offensive struggles were likely a percentage driven mirage, of the 260 NHL forwards who played at least 750 even-strength minutes a year ago, Clarkson was 256th in points per sixty minutes. There's really no excuse for that.
In sports it can often pay to have a short memory, which appears to be the approach that Clarkson is taking to his sophomore season as a Maple Leaf.
"It’s tough to go through that, when your first impression or start is that," Clarkson said. "But that’s all behind me. Everything’s behind me, and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead."
[H/T Kukla's Corner]