What Should the Toronto Maple Leafs Do With Kyle Clifford?

Acquired via trade along with Jack Campbell late at night on February 5th, Kyle Clifford’s career with the Toronto Maple Leafs may be short-lived.

Upon Clifford’s arrival in Toronto, the dynamic of the Toronto Maple Leafs bottom six forward group changed for the better.

They became more aggressive, more tenacious, and played with a lot more bite.

In his fourth game with Toronto, Clifford’s rugged style of play finally reared its aggressive head.

Against the Dallas Stars, the Leafs showed very little jump in their step and were looking for a spark the whole night.

The Buds were down 2-0 in the second period and only had six shots so far on the night. Immediately following a Jason Spezza faceoff, the 6”2’ Clifford dropped the gloves with the 6”7’ Jaimie Oleksiak, winning the bout, giving Toronto the spark they desperately needed.

Clifford’s Skillset

It was apparent then on that Clifford brings a different style of play to the bottom six – a gritty, in your face, relentless attitude which Toronto has long been criticized for lacking.

In the 54 games before Clifford arrived, Toronto only registered three fighting majors. In the 16 games he played with Toronto, the Leafs registered five fighting majors (stats; hockeyfights.com).

Furthermore, Clifford is Toronto’s best hitter by a significant margin. Since his arrival, the Ontario native has racked up 43 hits to lead the team. Justin Holl ranked second on the team with 24, and Frederik Gauthier ranked as Toronto’s second-best forward registering 17 (stats; NHL.com).

Unlike most “goons” around the league, Clifford has some offensive capabilities.

While never being a significant point-producer, Clifford has tremendous skating abilities for someone of his nature and has the necessary offensive weapons to survive in today’s NHL.

The Clifford Effect

It is clear Clifford’s aggressiveness rubbed off on a few of his teammates.

Before Clifford arrived, Toronto was averaging 16.77 hits per game (stats; NHL.com). After he arrived in Toronto, the Leafs averaged 17.63.

Similarly, Clifford’s willingness to do whatever the team needs of him to win likewise spread across the rest of the roster. The Leafs became more willing to sacrifice the body to block a shot in pursuit of the win.

Before the Ontario native’s arrival, the Toronto Maple Leafs ranked 26th league-wide in blocked shots, averaging 12.46 (stats; NHL.com). After the trade, Toronto jumped up to number 12 league-wide, averaging over 14 blocked shots a game.

Clifford’s Contract

While all of this would suggest it is a no-brainer for Kyle Dubas to re-sign Clifford, there are other factors at play than just his fit on the team.

Primarily, Clifford is still in his prime at age 29. This would lead some to believe he might be able to land a contract outside of Toronto’s budget in free agency.

Should he stay with Toronto, Evolving Hockey projects Clifford to land a two-year, $1,463,000 AAV contract.

It remains to be seen if Toronto can afford a fourth-line forward making over league minimum ($700,000), or whether it’s ever a good idea to pay a fourth liner more than that.

While TSN reported just as the NHL pause happened that Clifford wants to stay here and Leafs would like to re-sign him, that contract is just too rich for this franchise to take on. If that number came down to a more affordable figure, say $1,150,000, then that is when we can start discussing a potential re-sign.

Currently, Clifford’s contract has him earning $1,600,000 split 50-50 between the Kings and Leafs. With the impending cap crunch, it is entirely reasonable to suggest Clifford will be forced to take a shorter-term deal for a lower cap hit than he is currently earning.

Kyle Dubas is going to have his hands full this offseason. He has a ton of options he can opt for to improve this franchise, and I, for one, hope to see more of the gritty Ontario native in 2020 – 21.