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Connor Clifton

#75 · Defence · Boston Bruins

Born Apr 28, 1995 in Matawan, New Jersey, USA (age 31) · 6'0", 200 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 133rd overall in 2013 by PHX (round 5)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2018-19. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Haydn Fleury CAR · 1 P in 20 GP Jake Dotchin ANA · 1 P in 20 GP Ashton Sautner VAN · 1 P in 17 GP Jason Garrison EDM · 1 P in 17 GP Jeremy Lauzon BOS · 1 P in 16 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

051015202018-19: 1 points118-192019-20: 2 points219-202020-21: 7 points720-212021-22: 10 points1021-222022-23: 23 points2322-232023-24: 18 points1823-242024-25: 16 points1624-252025-26: 6 points625-262026-27: 1 points126-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2018-19 BOS 19 0 1 1 5 15 22 40 0.05 $725K
2019-20 BOS 31 2 0 2 4 12 20 90 0.06 $725K
2020-21 BOS 44 1 6 7 10 38 48 108 0.16 $1M
2021-22 BOS 60 2 8 10 -2 32 80 156 0.17 $1M
2022-23 BOS 78 5 18 23 20 60 93 208 0.29 $1M
2023-24 BUF 79 4 14 18 12 88 77 204 0.23 $3.333M
2024-25 BUF 73 1 15 16 -6 45 63 208 0.22 $3.333M
2025-26 PIT 50 2 4 6 5 53 35 180 0.12 $3.333M
2026-27 BOS 6 0 1 1 0 4 6 13 0.17 $2.25M
9 seasons Career 440 17 67 84 48 347 444 1207 0.19

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2018-19 BOS 18 2 3 5 2 16 11 32 0.28
2019-20 BOS 7 1 2 3 0 4 10 28 0.43
2020-21 BOS 10 0 0 0 0 2 10 27 0.00
2021-22 BOS 7 1 1 2 1 8 10 31 0.29
2022-23 BOS 3 0 0 0 -4 2 5 7 0.00
2025-26 PIT 3 0 0 0 -3 0 1 8 0.00
6 seasons Playoffs 48 4 6 10 -4 32 47 133 0.21

2018-19 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
19 0 1 1 5 15 22 40 0.05 0.0 17:42

Contract

$725KCap hitends in 2020
$725KCap dollars per point1 points in 19 games
$878KCap dollars per goal above replacement0.8 goals above replacement

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up.

The contract

Signed by the Boston Bruins on May 3, 2018, as an entry-level contract: 2 years and $1.47M, beginning in 2018-19. It runs through 2019-20, with 1 season left after this one.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2018-19 $725K $650K $50K $700K
2019-20 $725K $700K $50K $20K $750K

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jul 1, 2026 Boston Bruins New contract 2026-27 to 2027-28 2 $4.5M $2.25M
Jul 1, 2023 Buffalo Sabres New contract 2023-24 to 2025-26 3 $10M $3.333M
Jul 1, 2019 Boston Bruins Extension 2020-21 to 2022-23 3 $3M $1M
May 3, 2018 Boston Bruins Entry-level 2018-19 to 2019-20 2 $1.47M $725K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2018-19 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2018-19 playoff analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

+1.2Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+0.4Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence+0.1Even-strength defence+0.6Power play-0.1Penalty kill+0.1Penalties-0.3

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. A playoff run is too short to rank anyone on. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-0.500.511.522.52018-192020-212022-232024-252026-27Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

48.3Corsi for %188 attempts for, 201 against
-3.3CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
54.0Expected goals for %8.2 expected for, 7.0 against
+0.5xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
50.0Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
60.0Goals for %9 for, 6 against
102.6PDO8.2% shooting + 94.4% saves
25Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 114 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Matt Grzelcyk · Connor Clifton1499:5757.964.34-5
Torey Krug · Connor Clifton1848:3653.671.64-0
John Moore · Connor Clifton530:0835.634.30-0
Zdeno Chara · Connor Clifton1226:3338.336.01-1

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

2Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.7Expected goalsfrom 17 unblocked attempts
+1.3Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.18 expected goals per 60 minutes45th
Shot quality 4.2% chance per attempt79th
Finishing +1.3 goals above expected86thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 42 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest in these playoffs.

00.511.52Goals 2Expected 0.7

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took in these playoffs, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 6, 2019 vs TBL L 3-6 0 0 0 -2 0 3 2 20:07
Apr 4, 2019 @ MIN W 3-0 0 0 0 1 2 2 3 20:38
Mar 30, 2019 vs FLA L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 15:35
Mar 27, 2019 vs NYR W 6-3 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 18:34
Mar 25, 2019 @ TBL L 4-5 0 0 0 -2 0 0 4 20:33
Mar 23, 2019 @ FLA W 7-3 0 1 1 1 2 4 0 16:27
Mar 21, 2019 @ NJD W 5-1 0 0 0 3 0 2 4 18:50
Mar 19, 2019 @ NYI W 5-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 19:21
Mar 16, 2019 vs CBJ W 2-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 16:51
Mar 14, 2019 @ WPG L 3-4 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 12:28
Dec 4, 2018 @ FLA L 0-5 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 15:34
Dec 1, 2018 vs DET L 2-4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 15:10
Nov 29, 2018 vs NYI W 2-1 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 21:05
Nov 26, 2018 @ TOR L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 24:36
Nov 24, 2018 @ MTL W 3-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10:07
Nov 23, 2018 vs PIT W 2-1 (OT) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 10:55
Nov 21, 2018 @ DET L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 1 0 4 1 20:38
Nov 17, 2018 @ ARI W 2-1 0 0 0 1 2 0 5 20:02
Nov 16, 2018 @ DAL L 0-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 9 0 4 18:53