When Matt Grzelcyk went down, you just had a feeling based on the depth of the Bruins defense that the pairings could get a little wonky. Zboril and Miller would be next in line to move up, but both of whom seem much better off to play bottom-pair minutes. So Cassidy tried something different. He took Connor Clifton off the bench, and into the lineup in a top-four role on his off-side with Brandon Carlo, where he‘d see something like 20 minutes per night against very steady NHL competition. Clifton is a guy the Bruins have seen a lot of over a two+ year span, and they have seen him grow a lot as a player. He signed as a free agent with Boston in 2018. Coming into the league in November of 2019, he was a very free player. He was something of a surprise entry into our lineup that month will that mass of defensive injuries we suffered, but he impressed. He matched shutdown defensive ability with his big body checks impressively well for a young guy. It’s often a rarity for young guys looking to make an impression to play such a loose style of game because they don’t want to make any mistakes, but Clifton did not shy away from aggression or body contact, often times giving up inches and pounds on his opponents. With the defensive depth on that 2019 team and the young guys that seemed to be ahead of him on the depth chart, I don’t think many expected Connor Clifton to suit up for several games in the Stanley Cup Final later that season, but there he was, playing that same game and matching a lot of that physicality that was brought on by the St. Louis Blues heavy forecheck.
Then, in 2019/20, injuries held Clifton to just about 30 games-played in the season. And he didn’t get a regular role in the bubble until a good chunk of games in, where Cassidy had mentioned his work ethic in practice as the primary reason for pushing himself into the lineup. He played 3/5 games against Carolina in round one, and played all but one game in the five-tilt series against the Tampa Bay Lightning in round two.
Flash forward to the start of this season, and even with the departures of Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara, both of whom were on the team when Clifton was in the lineup, now they leave and his third pair spot is seemingly snatched from beneath him by youngster Jakub Zboril, and veteran Kevan Miller who was returning from injury. But when Grzelcyk went down, the kid got his opportunity and made the absolute most of it. He maintained that usual physicality we’ve all grown accustomed to. He’s really good with his stick. He‘s got good legs and mobility and can get the puck out of the zone in close quarters with a forechecker. He even fought Aube-Kubel of Philadelphia just last week. But with Grzelcyk’s return imminent, he runs into the same issue he had at the start of training camp. Good enough to play a consistent top-six role. Just doesn’t bring quite enough to the table to beat out any of the guys ahead of him. A future opportunity is sure to present itself this season, especially with the compressed schedule.
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