While it's somewhat depressing to say, the day the Leafs traded David Clarkson might be one of the five best days to be a Leafs fan in the last decade. It really can't be overstated how awful and seemingly untradeable that contract was. At the time of the trade, Clarkson still had 5 full years remaining on his deal with an AAV of 5.25M.
He had just come off a season where he scored 11 points in 60 games, playing 2nd line minutes with Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul, and getting PP time too. In that year, he was also a negative relative possession player on one of the worst possession teams in recorded history. In the season he got traded, Clarkson had 15 points in 58 games, again getting extended PP time and playing with relatively talented players. He was once again, a negative relative possession player on a terrible possession team. This is the player you were getting for 5.25M for 5+ years.
And it gets worse. He had a modified no trade clause, and a no movement clause. The way his contract was structured, it was impossible to buy out. If you were trying to make an untradable contract, it'd be hard to do a better job. And yet.... it happened, through an incredibly fortunate combination of a poor team that couldn't afford to have its money go to a player who wouldn't play, and a rich team that would pay any sum to get rid of it's biggest mistake in the last five years (and lord knows they made a lot of them).
The trade itself has been remarked on a million times. Given the constraints of both teams, it was an understandable deal from both sides, but there was no doubt at the time (and even less now) that the Leafs robbed the bank. So I want to look at this a different way. From the fan's perspective. Where were you when Clarkson got traded? What was your reaction? Share it with us below.