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Ben Clymer - #27
Position: LW/RW/D
Shoots: Right
Height: 6' 1'
Weight: 199 lbs.
Born: April 11, 1978
Age: 27 years
Nationality: American
Birthplace: Bloomington,
Minnesota
Drafted: Boston Bruins
1st round, 27th overall, 1997
Contract Particulars:
Three-year, one-way contract
(Signed July 21, 2006)
Salary: $1,000,000 (2007-08)
(Photo credit: Capitals website, "Image of the Day" archive.)
Caps Corner Analysis:
Seeking affordable experience for a forward corps that was expected to be very young in 2005-06, the Capitals signed fourth-liner Ben Clymer off the Stanley-Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in summer 2005, following the lockout. Clymer was available at a young age (27) after Tampa Bay elected not to qualify him, allowing Clymer to become an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA).
Clymer logged a solid season as part of the rebuilding club's checking line, earning a three-year, one-way contract averaging nearly $1 million per season in Summer 2006. After just the first year of the deal, however, growing depth within the Capitals' farm system pushed Clymer out of the starting roster. The team placed him on waivers, and going unclaimed, Clymer started the seson in Hershey of the AHL.
Skills
After entering the league as a defenseman and later converting to wing, Clymer fits the utility player mold to a tee, playing either wing or defense, as needed. Until the 2003-04 NHL season, Clymer had struggled to make it in the NHL as a defense-first defenseman. Even on his recent transition to utility forward, Clymer had always had a defense-first maxim reinforced by the coaching staff. Yet an experiment early in that season on a line with center Vaclav Prospal and Dave Andreychuk permitted Clymer to play a bit more of an offensive game in a limited role with the club, and he has built in these offensive opportunities with more ice time in Washington.
With the Capitals, Clymer provides Cup-winning experience and a solid character, work ethic, and locker room presence. He has settled into regular left-wing ice time alongside center Brian Sutherby and RW Matt Bradley on a third line that is frequently the team's most dependable.
Clymer is a strong skater who, because of his extensive stint as a defenseman, brings solid attention to defense. Clymer played five seasons for NHL Tampa Bay, two seasons of WCHA hockey at the University of Minnesota and one season with the WHL Seattle Thunderbirds before he went professional in 1999-2000. During the NHL lockout season of 2004-05, he amassed 11-12-23 numbers in 19 games for EHC Biel.
Projection
After filing for arbitration in the summer of 2006, there was some debate as to whether the Capitals would opt to commit to Clymer or potentially walk away from him if he landed a significant raise from an arbitrator.
This was a player the Caps were openly giving a season-long tryout in 2005-06. With arbitration, Clymer forced Washington management to reach a decision, and the team responded by rewarding his strong showing on the checking line in 2005-06 with a three-year pact. Clymer struggled at times in 2006-07, playing a shot stint on defense and his line failed to re-discover the formula that brought success the previous year. A deep pool of young checking players enabled the Caps to demote Clymer, and after clearing waivers, he joined the Hershey Bears for the 2007-08 season.
Contract Particulars
After winning the Cup with Tampa Bay in 2003-04, Clymer played 19 games with EHC Biel in Switzerland's Swiss 2 league during the lockout, posting better than point-per-game numbers. After playing only 66 regular season and five playoff games with the Lightning in their Cup season, he was not qualified and filed for UFA status at only age 27.
He signed with Washington early in the UFA season, a one-year, one-way contract that paid him $662,500 in 2005-06. With Washington, Clymer gained a regular roster spot for the first time in his NHL career, and he responded with career numbers, emerging as an intense third-line cycling player who provides both strong character and a scoring touch.
After putting up career 16-17-33 numbers in 2005-06, Clymer filed for arbitration. On July 21, 2006, Washington signed Clymer to a three-year, one-way contract, which will keep him in a Washington uniform through 2009. Under the contract, he earns $800,000 in 2006-07, $1 million in 2007-08, and $1.1 million in 2008-09.
|
NHL Salary (Career) |
|
Team |
Year |
Salary |
US$ Increase |
% Change |
|
TB |
2001-02 |
$925,000 |
-- |
-- |
|
TB |
2002-03 |
$715,000 |
-$210,000 |
77% |
|
TB |
2003-04 |
$790,000 |
$75,000 |
110% |
|
TB |
2004-05 |
Lockout |
-- |
-- |
|
WAS |
2005-06 |
$662,500 |
-$127,500 |
84% |
|
WAS |
2006-07 |
$800,000 |
$137,500 |
121% |
|
WAS |
2007-08 |
$1,000,000 |
$200,000 |
125% |
|
WAS |
2008-09 |
$1,100,000 |
$100,000 |
110% |
Career statistics: HockeyDB.com
Updated: October 1, 2007
Brian Marshall
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