As he was tweaking his roster ever so slightly during the offseason, New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello made it clear that there was one change he felt absolutely necessary for his team. "We have to get more ice time for David Clarkson," said Lamoriello, the architect of one of the NHL's most consistently successful franchises of the last two decades.
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| David Clarkson has five points (two goals) in the Devils' first five games. (Getty Images) |
It has been a reward to some degree for Clarkson scoring 17 times in his limited action last year -- more than double his rookie season output -- while demonstrating the toughness to lead the team in penalty minutes with 164, a total that including 21 majors for fighting. And it is an acknowledgment that the coach is in lockstep with the organization's belief that Clarkson, currently tied for the Devils lead in scoring, has more to contribute to the team than just his grit and his fists.
"I liked what he did at camp," Lemaire said. "He works hard, tries to do what we want and he has a positive attitude."
Good thing too because Clarkson wasn't drafted when he ended what was a pretty respectable junior career. He spent four full seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, the last three with Kitchener Rangers under current Florida Panthers coach Peter DeBoer. He scored 33 goals while racking up 145 penalty minutes in his final season but was bypassed by all 30 teams when he was eligible to be selected in 2005.
Still, the Devils found something appealing about a 6-1, 200-pound forward who showed little compunction about going to the dirty areas of the ice or standing up for his teammates, and decided he was worth a free-agent gamble, more so because Clarkson didn't take being left on the draft floor as a slight.
"To get the opportunity to play in this league is a big deal, but personally, I had never let it get to a point where I thought it wouldn't happen," Clarkson said. "You do realize that guys around you are getting drafted and you think maybe you're not going to make it to the NHL right away, that you'll have to play minor pro for a little while.
"But I don't think I ever got it in my head that I wouldn't make it. I've always had to prove myself to people who said I wasn't big enough or strong enough or good enough to make it, but that's in my blood. The thing is you never want to be older and regret not giving it everything you had, so that's what I did. I pushed myself."
So did the Devils, in their standard way. As an organization, New Jersey tends to avoid rushing its players to the big leagues, which left Clarkson to spend his first full season as a pro and most of his second with its top minor league affiliates before he was called up for a cup of coffee late in the 2006-07 season. Clarkson showed enough in that brief stint to make the Devils full time the following season, but it was really last year that he started opening eyes in spite of the limited role he played under former coach Brent Sutter.
That was a challenge too because Clarkson generally was on the ice as a grinder with the third and fourth units, which meant he was rarely with the same linemates for long. There were times he played with John Madden and either Brian Rolston or Jay Pandolfo, and others when he was pushing his weight around with bangers like Bobby Holik, Michael Rupp or Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond. But regardless of who lined up alongside him, Clarkson became increasingly noticeable because of his touch around the net and a fan favorite for his energized play and pugilistic skills.
"I think it can give a team a spark," Clarkson said of his willingness to drop his gloves when necessary. "But it's such a fast game now, you've got to be able to play too."
Clarkson is proving he can with a quick start. Lining up with Dainius Zubrus and rookie Nicklas Bergfors, Clarkson has picked up five points in the Devils' five games so far, and has scored a couple of crucial goals that have helped New Jersey overcome two home losses in a row to start the season with a three-game sweep of a road trip.
Clarkson picked up his first goal of the season on a late power play to provide the margin of a 3-2 victory in Florida last Saturday, and then notched the equalizer in the third period that sent the Devils to a shootout win in Washington two days later. And both reflected one of the biggest reasons the organization is expecting much from Clarkson this season.
"He's always around the net," Lemaire said. "He's strong, he's got strong hands, strong on the puck so he's going to get some chances."
And likely take advantage of them.
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