D · BOS · NHL id 8477365
Connor Clifton has played 2 games for the Boston Bruins in 2026-27, scoring 0 goals and 0 assists (0 points) on 4 shots while averaging 20:59 a night (19:09 at even strength, 0:04 on the power play and 1:30 shorthanded). At 5v5 he has skated 91% of his 5v5 minutes with Nikita Zadorov and 30% with Sean Kuraly over the last 2 games, and the Bruins have controlled 57% of shot attempts with Clifton on the ice (1-2 in goals, 60% offensive-zone starts). In the Bruins' most recent game against WPG he was on D3 with Nikita Zadorov and off the power play; dropped to D3 (from D1) in the last game.
Right now
From the Oct 2 game vs WPG, detected from shift data
- +4:49 5v5 TOI
- 26% of 5v5 TOI with Zacha (was 0%)
- Moved from D3 to D1
Deployment timeline
2026-27 · per-game ice time by strength, with line and power-play unit changes
Usage: 2 games, 20:43 average time on ice, PP1 in 0 games, 1 line changes.
- Even strength
- Power play
- Penalty kill
- 5-game average
- Did not play
- ▲ promoted · ▼ demoted
NHL EDGE tracking
2025-26 percentiles among skaters at his position
Only 2 GP in 2026-27; showing 2025-26 NHL EDGE data.
Season-level NHL EDGE puck and player tracking, refreshed nightly. The percentile is the league rank among skaters this season; the label at the right is the raw value.
Shot map
2026-27 · 10 attempts, 4 on goal, 0 goals
Shot map, OPP at BOS: 10 attempts, 4 on goal, 0 goals, 0.23 expected goals; best chance Connor Clifton at 0.09 xG.
- Even strength
- Power play
- Penalty kill
- Goal
- Shot on goal
- Missed
- Blocked
Luck
2025-26 · 50 GP · 6 points vs 11.3 expected
Last 20 games: -45. Positive means running hot (sell), negative running cold (buy).
- 5.7%
- 101.5
- 18.2%
- G vs xG
- 2 / 1.8
- • Role rose over the last 10 games (TOI up 1:42 a game, 5 promotion events): some of the heat may be real.
- Actual goals
- Expected
- ±1σ
- Above expected
- Below expected
Player analytics
Compare with another player →2025-26 regular season. Rank is among all qualified players; the bar is his percentile among defencemen. Each stat links to its explainer.
- 2026-27 so far: 2 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 PPP, 4 SOG.
Fantasy box score
- Games played50
- Goals2578th of 715
- Assists4620th of 715
- Points6639th of 715
- Power-play points0437th of 715
- Shorthanded points0227th of 715
- Shots on goal35616th of 715
- Hits18036th of 715
- Blocked shots84130th of 715
- Plus/minus+5194th of 715
- Penalty minutes5397th of 715
- Faceoffs won0451st of 715
Possession & shot quality (5-on-5 on-ice)
- Corsi (CF%)48.1%446th of 719
- Fenwick (FF%)50.3%296th of 719
- Expected goals (xGF%)54.5%115th of 719
- Sequence xG (sxGF%)54.4%118th of 719
- High-danger chances (HDCF%)56.3%86th of 719
- Scoring chances (SCF%)50.9%267th of 719
Transition, turnovers & faceoffs
- Transition attempts /600.33595th of 719
- Turnover Ledger /60−0.013185th of 719
- Forecheck xG /60 (on-ice)0.17667th of 719
Usage
- Ice time per game16:46315th of 715
- Power-play time per game0:01683rd of 715
- Offensive-zone start %32.7%670th of 719
Special teams & discipline
- Net penalties drawn /60−1.11680th of 719
Luck & trend
- On-ice PDO1015193rd of 719
- Goals above expected+0.2308th of 715
- Luck Meter−25565th of 828
- Ascension score6333rd of 526
NHL EDGE tracking
- Top skating speed22.7208th of 715
- 20+ mph bursts26564th of 715
- Hardest shot89.0311th of 715
- Offensive-zone time38.7%635th of 715
Unranked rows are below the sample minimum (20 GP, 200 five-on-five minutes, 100 draws or 10 goalie games).
Beyond the box score
2025-26 regular season · 47 of 50 games through the sequence engine (more fill in as games are reprocessed)
- −0.032
- Season net
- −0.39xG
5-on-5. Each takeaway is credited, and each giveaway charged, at the league xG value of the zone.
- Per 60
- 0.33
- Attempts
- 4
- 0.010
5-on-5 shots within 10 seconds of winning the puck outside the offensive zone.
Role changes
Notable promotions, demotions and ice-time swings from Line Watch
- Moved up to D1 from D2Apr 11, 2026 alerts →
- Moved up to D2 from D3Apr 11, 2024 alerts →
- Moved up to D2 from D3Dec 23, 2023 alerts →
- Played 7:46 more than his 5-game averageDec 23, 2023 alerts →
- Moved up to D2 from D3Apr 11, 2023 alerts →
- Moved up to D2 from D3Dec 13, 2022 alerts →
- Played 6:49 more than his 5-game averageApr 29, 2022 alerts →
- Moved up to D2 from D3Dec 27, 2019 alerts →
How the goals happened
7 goals since 2023-24 with NHL EDGE tracking: press Replay to watch the tracking animation
| Game | Play | Entry | Passes | Shot mph | Notes | Replay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 26, 2026 vs NJD | Forecheck turnover | — | 3* | 70.0 | — | |
| Jan 17, 2026 vs CBJ | Rebound | carry | 0 | 57.1 | 4-on-3, rebound | |
| Apr 13, 2025 @ TBL | Dump and chase | dump | 0 | 17.7 | 2-on-1 | |
| Mar 27, 2024 vs OTT | Odd-man rush | carry | 1 | 33.6 | 4-on-3 | |
| Mar 24, 2024 @ CGY | Deflection | carry | 0 | 29.0 | 4-on-0, deflection | |
| Mar 12, 2024 vs DET | Odd-man rush | carry | 1 | 70.0 | 3-on-2, one-timer | |
| Feb 23, 2024 @ CBJ | Point shot | — | 3* | 42.5 | — |
* includes a royal-road (cross-slot) pass. Derived from NHL EDGE puck and player tracking.
Linemates
2026-27 · 5v5 time together and how each pairing performs with and without Clifton
| Teammate | Pos | GP | Share | CF% together | GF% together | CF% Clifton apart | CF% mate apart | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nikita Zadorov | D | 2 | 34:45 | 91% | 55.9% | 33% (1-2) | 66.7% 3:32 | 71.4% 3:23 |
| Sean Kuraly | C | 2 | 11:39 | 30% | 53.8% | — (0-0) | 59.0% 26:38 | 41.2% 12:38 |
| Casey Mittelstadt | C | 2 | 11:36 | 30% | 61.5% | — (0-0) | 55.8% 26:41 | 51.2% 16:26 |
| Morgan Geekie | C | 2 | 11:26 | 30% | 58.3% | — (0-0) | 56.6% 26:51 | 47.1% 18:32 |
| Tanner Jeannot | LW | 2 | 11:14 | 29% | 54.2% | 0% (0-1) | 58.5% 27:03 | 35.3% 11:27 |
| Pavel Zacha | C | 2 | 9:55 | 26% | 75.0% | — (0-0) | 54.4% 28:22 | 48.9% 17:12 |
| David Pastrnak | RW | 2 | 9:09 | 24% | 40.0% | 0% (0-2) | 62.0% 29:08 | 68.0% 21:42 |
| Mark Kastelic | C | 2 | 8:59 | 23% | 47.6% | 50% (1-1) | 61.4% 29:18 | 33.3% 11:32 |
| Elias Lindholm | C | 2 | 8:22 | 22% | 43.8% | 0% (0-1) | 61.2% 29:55 | 61.7% 19:28 |
| Fraser Minten | C | 2 | 8:08 | 21% | 71.4% | 100% (1-0) | 52.9% 30:09 | 55.2% 19:21 |
| JJ Peterka | RW | 2 | 8:01 | 21% | 42.9% | 0% (0-1) | 60.8% 30:16 | 57.4% 22:44 |
| James Hagens | C | 2 | 7:57 | 21% | 73.3% | 100% (1-0) | 52.0% 30:20 | 44.4% 18:54 |
| Marat Khusnutdinov | C | 2 | 7:52 | 21% | 76.5% | — (0-0) | 50.0% 30:25 | 50.0% 17:24 |
| Mason Lohrei | D | 1 | 1:04 | 3% | 100.0% | — (0-0) | 54.8% 21:04 | 47.1% 16:24 |
Linemate and opposition quality
2025-26 · 5v5 · 728 min on ice · ranked against 270 defencemen · last season, until this season has enough games to rank
71st percentile · higher = stronger linemates
96th percentile · higher = tougher opponents
Top-line role: strong linemates against the other team's best.
Each value is the ice-time-weighted average season xGF% of the skaters Clifton shared the 5v5 ice with. Small samples lean on each skater's previous season (or 50% for newcomers). Most skaters land between about 45% and 55% for QoT and 49% and 51% for QoC, so the percentile is the easier read.
Game log
2 games in 2026-27, newest first
| Date | Opp | Result | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | HIT | BLK | EV | PP | PK | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2 | @ WPG | W 4-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 18:35 | 16:09 | — | 2:19 |
| Sep 29 | vs NYR | W 3-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | — | 23:23 | 22:08 | 0:08 | 0:41 |
Season splits by strength
2026-27 regular season · on-ice numbers from shift and play-by-play data
| Strength | GP | TOI/GP | SA | GF | GA | GF% | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All situations | 2 | 41:51 | 20:56 | 37 | 37 | 50.0% | 46.4% | 13 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 25% | 1.6 | 2.3 | 50% |
| Even strength | 2 | 38:17 | 19:09 | 37 | 28 | 56.9% | 54.2% | 13 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 33% | 1.6 | 1.3 | 60% |
| 5v5 | 2 | 38:17 | 19:09 | 37 | 28 | 56.9% | 54.2% | 13 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 33% | 1.6 | 1.3 | 60% |
| Power play | 1 | 0:08 | 0:08 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0.0 | 0.0 | — |
| Penalty kill | 2 | 3:00 | 1:30 | 0 | 9 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0% | 0.0 | 1.1 | 0% |
| 4v5 | 2 | 3:00 | 1:30 | 0 | 9 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0% | 0.0 | 1.1 | 0% |
Career by season
Seasons in Edgehalla's data (2025-26 is being backfilled; earlier seasons follow)
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | HIT | BLK | TOI/GP | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | BOS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 4 | 0.0% | 5 | 2 | 20:59 |
| 2025-26Playoffs | PIT | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% | 8 | 1 | 11:50 |
| 2025-26 | PIT | 50 | 2 | 4 | 6 | +5 | 53 | 35 | 5.7% | 180 | 84 | 16:46 |
| 2024-25 | BUF | 73 | 1 | 15 | 16 | -6 | 45 | 63 | 1.6% | 208 | 116 | 16:03 |
| 2023-24 | BUF | 79 | 4 | 14 | 18 | +12 | 88 | 77 | 5.2% | 204 | 117 | 16:33 |
| 2022-23Playoffs | BOS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 2 | 5 | 0.0% | 7 | 6 | 14:40 |
| 2022-23 | BOS | 78 | 5 | 18 | 23 | +20 | 60 | 93 | 5.4% | 208 | 120 | 17:51 |
| 2021-22Playoffs | BOS | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 8 | 10 | 10.0% | 31 | 7 | 17:07 |
| 2021-22 | BOS | 60 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 32 | 80 | 2.5% | 156 | 62 | 16:04 |
| 2020-21Playoffs | BOS | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0.0% | 27 | 13 | 17:51 |
| 2020-21 | BOS | 44 | 1 | 6 | 7 | +10 | 38 | 48 | 2.1% | 108 | 52 | 18:13 |
| 2019-20 | BOS | 31 | 2 | 0 | 2 | +4 | 12 | 20 | 10.0% | 90 | 33 | 14:25 |
| 2018-19Playoffs | BOS | 18 | 2 | 3 | 5 | +2 | 16 | 11 | 18.2% | 32 | 17 | 13:17 |
| 2018-19 | BOS | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +5 | 15 | 22 | 0.0% | 40 | 13 | 17:42 |
Connor Clifton news
- Bruins' Connor Clifton was looking for more playing time when he re-signed. He got it in the opener.The Boston Globe
- Back in Boston, Connor Clifton is already at home in Marco Sturm's D corpsBoston.com
- Connor Clifton's Bruins Return Already Includes A Surprising New ResponsibilityYahoo Sports
- Nikita Zadorov and Connor Clifton: From Chirping Each Other to Playing TogetherNHL.com
- Connor Clifton Game Log - NHLFOX Sports
- Locker Room Raw: Connor CliftonNHL.com
- Connor Clifton HomeNHL.com
- CliftonNHL.com
Headlines via LineupExperts. Links open the original publisher.
On-ice and deployment numbers are derived by Edgehalla from NHL play-by-play and shift data. Tracking percentiles are from NHL EDGE. Data updates after every game.