Hockey Terminal
Be a GM

← All players

Photo of Connor Clifton

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 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Artyom Levshunov CHI · 1 P in 5 GP Chris Tanev TOR · 1 P in 5 GP Elias Pettersson VAN · 1 P in 5 GP Jalen Chatfield CAR · 1 P in 5 GP John Marino UTA · 1 P in 5 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 5 0 1 1 0 2 5 9 0.20 $2.25M
9 seasons Career 439 17 67 84 48 345 443 1203 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

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
5 0 1 1 0 2 5 9 0.20 0.0 20:12

Contract

$2.25MCap hitends in 2028, then UFA
$2.25MCap dollars per point1 points in 5 games
$1.784MCap dollars per goal above replacement1.3 goals above replacement, projected
$2MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$235KValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

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 season is still being played, so each rating is projected over the whole season: the games played so far, plus the games left at the rate of the last three seasons and this one. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 648 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Boston Bruins on Jul 1, 2026, as a new contract: 2 years and $4.5M, beginning in 2026-27. It runs through 2027-28, with 1 season left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2026-27 $2.25M
2027-28 $2.25M

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

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 2026-27 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.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 5 games (-0.1 goals above replacement), plus the 62 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

+1.3Goals above replacement406th of 648 skaters, 118th of 225 defencemen
+0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-2.6Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 225 ranked defencemen: 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.

Even-strength offence-2.6 20th percentileEven-strength defence+2.6 90th percentilePower play-0.1 51st percentilePenalty kill-0.2 24th percentilePenalties-2.3 4th percentile

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, and the rank beside it is among defencemen. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance.

-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

48.0Corsi for %71 attempts for, 77 against
+0.1CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
51.1Expected goals for %3.4 expected for, 3.3 against
0.0xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
46.9Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
50.0Goals for %4 for, 4 against
104.0PDO12.9% shooting + 91.1% saves
12Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Connor Clifton · Nikita Zadorov575:4846.853.24-4
Connor Clifton · Mason Lohrei43:5750.041.50-0
Hampus Lindholm · Connor Clifton32:0440.015.70-0
Connor Clifton · Will Borgen41:510.00.00-0

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.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.2Expected goalsfrom 7 unblocked attempts
-0.2Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.14 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 3.5% chance per attempt1st
Finishing -0.2 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 0 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Expected 0.2Goals 0

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 this season, 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
Oct 8, 2026 vs UTA W 6-1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 21:37
Oct 5, 2026 vs OTT L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 19:17
Oct 3, 2026 @ MIN L 1-4 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 18:06
Oct 2, 2026 @ WPG W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 2 2 18:35
Sep 29, 2026 vs NYR W 3-0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 23:23