David Clarkson News

The Maple Leafs have acquired David Clarkson and a 2020 fourth-round pick from the Golden Knights for Garret Sparks.

Clarkson has a career-ending injury and will never play again in the NH. Trading Sparks and picking up Clarkson’s contract, which will be moved to LTIR, provides the Maple Leafs with a little more wiggle room in terms of cap-space. Michal Neuvirth has been signed to a PTO and could land the backup job in Toronto with Sparks now in Vegas.

David Clarkson
Clarkson (lower-body) is expected to make his season debut on Friday.

Clarkson had no points in three games with Columbus after being acquired from Toronto. He was a disaster with the Maple Leafs, posting just 15 goals and 11 assists (26 points) in 118 games after signing a massive deal with his hometown team. Now with the Blue Jackets, he will make his season debut against his former team.

David Clarkson
Clarkson (lower-body) will not play on Friday; listed as day-to-day.

Clarkson will be held out of the season opener with a lower-body injury. The Blue Jackets are unsure if Clarkson will travel with the team to start the season, so expect him to miss at least the first two games. He will be replaced by Jared Boll.

David Clarkson
Clarkson left Tuesday’s game with and upper-body injury and did not return.

Clarkson received a two-minute tripping minor and a 10-minute misconduct after getting involved in a scrum. It is believed he suffered an injury at some point during that scrum and was forced to leave the game. Things haven’t exactly gone well in a Blue Jackets uniform for Clarkson.

David Clarkson
Clarkson will make his Blue Jackets debut on the top-line.

After posting just 15 points (10 G / 5A) in 58 games this season and 26 points (15G / 11A) in 118 games with the Maple Leafs, Clarkson and his monstrous deal were shipped to Columbus this week. Tonight he will get a chance with Ryan Johansen and Nick Foligno on the Blue Jackets first line.

David Clarkson
The Blue Jackets have acquired David Clarkson from Toronto for Nathan Horton.

Clarkson has a monster contract and some thought it would be immovable for the Maple Leafs. But, the Blue Jackets obviously want to pay money to a player who will actually play, rather than Nathan Horton, who’s being paid despite it looking like he might not play an NHL game again.

David Clarkson
Clarkson (broken orbital bone) will not require surgery.

Clarkson suffered a broken orbital bone in Friday's preseason game vs. the Sabres. We all remember Clarkson starting last season with a 10-game suspension for leaving the bench to engage with John Scott, well this time he got injured in a fight with Cody McCormick. Now a guy who is costing your team over $5 million a season, probably should not be fighting in a meaningless preseason game. Clarkson does not need surgery which is a positive, but the Leafs' frustration with the 30-year-old must be growing.

David Clarkson