Is Kale Clague Good?

[bob_sauve28]

No hockey for awhile, so we might as well discuss stuff like this. 

 

He has looked good. Wonder if he has claimed Bryson's spot 

[mjd1001]

I wish I could contribute to this conversation or have something to say but I can't. Other than if he is playing well he'll likely get more ice time and with more ice time we will all see him more. 

Its a good question for people to give their opinion on becasue there simply isn't enough to go on now (at least for me). Good is a relative term also.  In this case I think it means "good enough" to be an upgrade at the 3rd pair d-role over what they have so far.

[K-9]

No, he is serviceable at best. Same goes for Bryson, Fitz, Pilut and and other AHL level D man we’ve been forced to play.

[Eleven]

Who?

[DarthEbriate]

Clague 6' 190#, Pilut 5'11 194#, Bryson 5'9" 176#. Power forwards can and should drive on them. They're all quick-to-fast, and classified in their drafts/prospects as the "puck-moving D" which has become shorthand for not so great in their own end, especially if the other team gets a cycle going.

When one of those guys is #6 and paired with a Boushh or Power or Joker, (or even Dahlin or Muel as a double-shift for the top pair guy) they'll probably be fine. You can deploy them properly and manage their minutes. When all 3 are in the lineup (and Muel/Boussh are out) that's where we've seen it become an issue.

Clague is 24 with fewer than 82 NHL games played. The NHL game is still slowing down for him. He can be a #6 guy with the right #5 partner, but is best served as the #7-8. He's also a 1st round pick so the skill level is likely there.

Who do we want Clague to maybe become? Probably Joker. Jokiharju has shown some fantastic breakout passes, some smooth low-event play, and is a PMD with the same susceptibilities as these lighter guys: he'll get overpowered. Give Joker the right partner and maybe someday he goes from a 5/6 to a 3/4 with veteran savvy and a bit more mass as he fills out (I still think he can be a Lydman-type when he hits age 27). Clague could be the same, although already probably closer to his max playing weight/strength. Next season, if Joker is your 5/6 and Clague is a 7/8, that's fine. You just want your other 7/8 guy to be of the more defensive variety with shot blocking and reach and board battling as key attributes.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

2 hours ago, Eleven said:

Who?

Thank you.

I also think booby should define good.

[PerreaultForever]

No, but I like him better than Pilut. 

I like Fitz on the roster over Bryson and Clague over Pilut. Both are less talented offensively, but are better at being defensemen and that's what we need. They are all bottom pairing at best though. 

[Pimlach]

I learned to spell his name right, Clague, not Clagge.  

Is he good?  Well, the eye test says he is holding his own.  He is averaging over 16 mins a game so DG is trusting him.  He is +2, even with the bigger workload (yes, small sample size).

 

I think our defense grades like this:

1. Dahlin

2. Samuelsson

3. Power 

4. Joker

5. Boosh

6.  probably Bryson but he carries a team worst -15 (I place him here by looking at minutes to see what DG thinks).

7. Clague  (pretty quickly earned minutes and he is the only "plus" guy in the bottom group)  

8. Fitz (just got passed by Clague)

9.  Pilut (he had a good game against LV but the least trusted by DG in terms of minutes played)  

 

Just add a solid veteran RHD to spot 3/4 and move Joker to the 5/6 pair with Boosh and we get so much better.  

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by Pimlach

[Drag0nDan]

2 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

Clague 6' 190#, Pilut 5'11 194#, Bryson 5'9" 176#. Power forwards can and should drive on them. They're all quick-to-fast, and classified in their drafts/prospects as the "puck-moving D" which has become shorthand for not so great in their own end, especially if the other team gets a cycle going.

When one of those guys is #6 and paired with a Boushh or Power or Joker, (or even Dahlin or Muel as a double-shift for the top pair guy) they'll probably be fine. You can deploy them properly and manage their minutes. When all 3 are in the lineup (and Muel/Boussh are out) that's where we've seen it become an issue.

Clague is 24 with fewer than 82 NHL games played. The NHL game is still slowing down for him. He can be a #6 guy with the right #5 partner, but is best served as the #7-8. He's also a 1st round pick so the skill level is likely there.

Who do we want Clague to maybe become? Probably Joker. Jokiharju has shown some fantastic breakout passes, some smooth low-event play, and is a PMD with the same susceptibilities as these lighter guys: he'll get overpowered. Give Joker the right partner and maybe someday he goes from a 5/6 to a 3/4 with veteran savvy and a bit more mass as he fills out (I still think he can be a Lydman-type when he hits age 27). Clague could be the same, although already probably closer to his max playing weight/strength. Next season, if Joker is your 5/6 and Clague is a 7/8, that's fine. You just want your other 7/8 guy to be of the more defensive variety with shot blocking and reach and board battling as key attributes.

Seems about right - He seems a natural fit next to Lybushkin.  

 

Just now, Pimlach said:

I learned to spell his name right, Clague, not Clagge.  

Is he good?  Well, the eye test says is holding his own.  He is averaging over 16 mins a game so DG is trusting him.  He is +2, even with the bigger workload (yes, small sample size).

 

I think our defense grades like this:

1. Dahlin

2. Samuelsson

3. Power 

4. Joker

5. Boosh

6.  probably Bryson but he carries a team worst -15 (I place him here by looking at minutes to see what DG thinks).

7. Clague  (pretty quickly earned minutes and he is the only "plus" guy in the bottom group)  

8. Fitz (just got passed by Clague)

9.  Pilut (he had a good game against LV but the least trusted by DG in terms of minutes played)  

 

Just add a solid veteran RHD to spot 3/4 and move Joker to the 5/6 pair with Boosh and we get so much better.  

 

Joker and power have played well together when joker has been available.

Dahlin and Sammy seem to have some chemistry as a pair of lefties and make it work. 

The remaining guys just... Bryson has played freaking terrible this year, but he's also had 0 consistency.  Clague stunk it up at first but hes finding his way.  Fitzgerald is bad, and no one can convince me otherwise.  Pilut can pass and seems a good skater but he can't get the puck out of the zone consistently and seems to second guess when to pressure people at the blue line - he also seems to have that same power allergy to shooting :-).   

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, Drag0nDan said:

Seems about right - He seems a natural fit next to Lybushkin.  

 

Joker and power have played well together when joker has been available.

Dahlin and Sammy seem to have some chemistry as a pair of lefties and make it work. 

The remaining guys just... Bryson has played freaking terrible this year, but he's also had 0 consistency.  Clague stunk it up at first but hes finding his way.  Fitzgerald is bad, and no one can convince me otherwise.  Pilut can pass and seems a good skater but he can't get the puck out of the zone consistently and seems to second guess when to pressure people at the blue line - he also seems to have that same power allergy to shooting :-).   

Dahlin & Samuelsson have played well together.

Power & Jokiharju are OK as a pairing, but Power really needs his own Muel.  The Joker is not that guy.  If Lyubushkin is fully healthy would like to see him in that role though he's not ideal there either.

Joker & any of the other 4 would be an acceptable 3rd pairing.

Back to the thread topic.  Expecting Clague is the new Gragnani.  A tweener that everybody falls in love with because he plays a few good games while still on the "back in the NHL" adrenaline rush.   If he stays up & is playing well come February, will pay attention.  But until he has 20 or so good games, expect he's exactly what we expected - a Ra-cha-cha staple that we could hopefully get a handful of good games from in a callup.

But do have him ahead of Pilut.  Have him pretty much even w/ Fitzgerald now.  He could be better than Bryson, but there's something the coaches see in Bryson that they're determined to bring to the surface.  (Much to the fans chagrin.)

 

[Zamboni]

In fear of being boring with repetition and saying the same stuff others are saying in a different way … I’ll just say to the question … yes 

[Doohickie]

7 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

He has looked good. Wonder if he has claimed Bryson's spot 

I think he has.  I'm guess Granadams still has Bryson on the third pair when healthy.

The fact that they put him on PP2 may indicate otherwise though... we'll see.

[PASabreFan]

[Marvin]

Good enough to be a consistent #6D.  That's all I care about.

[PerreaultForever]

On 12/22/2022 at 12:27 PM, Pimlach said:

Just add a solid veteran RHD to spot 3/4 and move Joker to the 5/6 pair with Boosh and we get so much better.  

 

Yup, exactly. We need another Samuelsson or at least another Boosh. 

[triumph_communes]

Better than Fitz/Bryson by a hair. Probably size and age

[GASabresIUFAN]

Is Clague good? No.  Is he better than Pliut or Fitz? Almost certainly.  Is he better than Bryson? Debatable, but I'll go with the eye test and say yes.  Is he good enough to play in the top 6 on a playoff caliber team.  No.

[LGR4GM]

9 hours ago, triumph_communes said:

Better than Fitz/Bryson by a hair. Probably size and age

Age?

Clague: 24

Fitz: 25

Bryson: 25

[Doohickie]

Clague to the second pairing.  Is this for real or just working around some dinged up players?

[Amerks8796]

20 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Clague to the second pairing.  Is this for real or just working around some dinged up players?

He’ll be in Rochester by this evening. 

[PromoTheRobot]

He's better than Pilut apparently.

[GASabresIUFAN]

4 hours ago, Amerks8796 said:

He’ll be in Rochester by this evening. 

I guess it depends on the roster.  Maybe Pilut goes down.   I wonder if DG thinks he’s the 7th best D in the organization at this point.

[Amerks8796]

8 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I guess it depends on the roster.  Maybe Pilut goes down.   I wonder if DG thinks he’s the 7th best D in the organization at this point.

They waived Pilut, but I don’t think that removes him from the roster until he clears tomorrow. 
 

Clague is definitely staying for a while, but I thought another move is still needed for Bryson. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 minute ago, Amerks8796 said:

They waived Pilut, but I don’t think that removes him from the roster until he clears tomorrow. 
 

Clague is definitely staying for a while, but I thought another move is still needed for Bryson. 

I think Joki is still on IR. So Clague and Fitz are now D 6 and 7.

[Amerks8796]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I think Joki is still on IR. So Clague and Fitz are now D 6 and 7.

Right, but Pilut is still on the roster until tomorrow. Just placing someone on waivers doesn’t remove them from the roster until 24 hours is up. Unless I’m mistaken on the rules.