The Bruins announced today that they have signed defenseman Connor Clifton to a three-year contract extension worth $3 million ($1 million AAV). Clifton, 24, burst onto the scene last year for the Bruins when the blue line was decimated by injuries early in the year. He appeared in 19 games for the Bruins in the regular season, tallying zero goals and one assist in that span. He also appeared in 18 playoff games for the team, recording two goals and three assists during that time. Starting the year as an unknown to many fans and the team’s tenth-string defender, Clifton’s physicality and skating allowed him to emerge as a reliable and valuable third-pairing defender for the team. He even played in the Stanley Cup Final for them over some more veteran guys such as Steven Kampfer, showing that he deserved to be there and that coach Bruce Cassidy had confidence in him to get the job done and to get it done well. His style of play has become nicknamed “Cliffy Hockey” by the fans, and I’m personally happy he’ll be sticking around for a little while. He’s a great option on the third pairing with Matt Grzelyck, and I think he’ll be in the lineup come opening night, provided he has a good training camp (which I think he will). As previously mentioned, he possesses an excellent blend of skating ability and physicality and he is not afraid to take a hit to make a play. He also has a little bit of nasty to his game, fighting Jason Spezza (then of the Dallas Stars) in his first NHL game, and he was not afraid to step in and defend Tuukka in front of the net whenever necessary. I’m excited to have him back even though there are other, younger players who appear ready for the NHL, as he’s fun to watch play and it’s also a cheap deal for a relatively short term. So, the team hasn’t committed to him for too long in case enough better players come along and he gets pushed out or if last season was a fluke and he doesn’t play very well next year. But, I don’t see that happening and I think he’ll stick around for a little while, The deal starts in the 2020-21 season, and the contracts of Miller, Krug, Grzelyck, and Chara are up after next season, so there will likely be some turnover, and it’s nice to know we have a good bottom-pairing guy already extended for a few more years on a cheap deal.
Hockey Addict 