Which 29 year old free agent signing gets more points this year? David Clarkson or Mikhail Grabovski?

Grabovski (I'm still livid that that Carlyle and Nonis signed off on this buyout because it shows exactly how utterly stupid they are and that they are clueless about the use of advanced stats). Grabbo was their best centre last year (Bozak was a passenger on Kessel's line, and Bozak's vaunted faceoff prowess computes to one extra faceoff win every two games...he's not exactly Bergeron). But nope...Carlyle (who, BTW, was ONE F***ING POINT BETTER AFTER 48 GAMES THAN RON WILSON WAS THE YEAR BEFORE) is some magical genius (play 2 facepunchers in the playoffs...why, sure!).

He'll play with legit linemates (I cannot emphasize how much he drives possession and he did this last year with facepunchers on his line), and if you give him zone starts he'll score (2 years ago with MacArthur and Kulemin he scored 29...). Plus, if Ovechkin's line gets all the hard minutes, Grabbo (who played the toughest oppo. minutes of any Leaf forward) will see some pretty soft minutes.

Clarkson has never been over 50 points (if he was from Nfld would everyone here have a collective chubby about him?), and typically you see production go down around age 26/27. If you look at his shot charts (where he shoots from), you see he's not exactly just pumping them in around the crease- more of his shots are further out. JVR does better on this front.

Plus...Grabbo's crazy. He might try to kill a guy at some point. Hitting him only makes him angry.

At least Washington's not a conference rival so I'll only have to see him eat the Leafs alive 3 times.

Hate to say it but Burke's idea about no contracts longer than 5 years...he might be onto something (in 2-3 years Clarkson will be trade bait).

I think the safe answers is Grabo, that is if both remain healthy for the majority of the season. Now I can't recall exactly (just got a new laptop with Windows 8 and haven't figured it all out so I'm not going to look it up) but I believe Clarkson has never cracked 50 points in a year, and Grabovski will be playing on a team with a high powered offense. With that said, Clarkson will be a great addition for his physical game that he will bring will help the Leafs a lot, especially with the Bruins in the same division.

The other interesting aspect to look at is Grabo's contract, $3mil for 1 year, so you know he will be motivated to play hard for a better contract next year, and with the cap going up following this upcoming season I believe he will get what he wants money and term wise if he plays strong.

Both should be close to 50 points for their respective teams.

But the Grabovski dilemma is that he wouldn't get 50 with the Leafs. No matter where he played. If he was used to centre Kessel and Van Riemsdyk he would be less effective than Bozak and would actually create less offense from that line. He would also have to play behind Kadri and so he would continue to play third line minutes (much to his chagrin) but not as effectively as Dave Bolland will be.

Grabovski's problem is he isn't as talented as Kadri nor as unselfish as Bozak. Two traits which cost him his job with the Leafs.

Toronto's Kadri line of Lupul, Kadri and Clarkson will tally 215 points this season which will put them near the top of the leagues best lines. The Washington trio of Grabovski, Erat and Brouwer should score about 160 points. Excellent for a second line.

The answer to this question will be a big part of either side of the Leafs' offseason argument. Well, this and Bozak vs. Grabo.

It looks as if Clarkson will play with Kadri and Lupul (correct me if I'm wrong here), which could mean a few more assist to go along with his crash-and-bang goals. Pending his PP ice time, I'll say 25 goals, 20 assists for 45 points. That, along with a physical presence would do a lot to silence the critics of his contract.

Grabovski is kind of a wildcard to me. Does he play with Ovechkin for any significant amount of time? Will he be a better fit in Oates' system (more so than Carlyle's I would wager). I'll say Grabo matches Clarkson in goals, but edges him in assists for a 50 point season.

Well, I am definitely no expert on the East but I would think Grabovski is the clear choice here. First of all he seems to have a bit better scoring prowess than Clarkson (though Clarkson does provide things outside scoring that Grabovski does not), and second of all Clarkson is playing with the Leafs where Grabovski will be playing with one the top offenses of recent years and will have a coach who knows how to get players scoring by the bundle.

In a straight up comparison, I think Grabovski will be more valuable to his team as well. One of the Capitals' concerns has been depth scoring and that pivotal 2C, and though Ribeiro filled that role relatively well I wouldn't be surprised to see Grabovski do even better.

I prefer a comparison of Mikhail Grabovski and Matt Cullen - one 29, the other 36. The former signed for $3million, the latter for $3.5million. "Grabo" could begin the 2013-14 season in December, and - assuming he has top-six minutes and PP time - and wind up with more points than either Cullen or David Clarkson.

In fairness to Nashville, in early July - when they signed Cullen - "Grabo" was probably asking for considerably more than he wound up signing for with Washington.

Grabo for sure

A) He plays in an uptempo system which will allow him to play his speedy/offensive game, last year Carlyle was big on putting Grabo in a defensive role which hindered his game a lot and was a large reason his numbers dropped

B) Clarkson's best year was 48 points, I think he'll have tough time cracking that even in Toronto.

Grabo=60pts

Clarkson=42pts

My prediction of course.

Grabovski will get more points, he needs a new contract again next year. It's the years he doesn't need a new contract that he is invisible.

More points for Grabovski - 60ish

More goals for Clarkson - 30ish

Clarkson