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Pat Morris joined Leafs Lunch to discuss his client David Clarkson’s trade to Columbus.

 His involvement in getting the deal done:
I actually spoke to Dave Nonis about another thought that we had on David, probably a week ago. I started with Nonis on that dialogue that had some legs, then [it] died. Then, Dave said, “I might be working on something else, would you have interest in listening to that?” I said, “sure, bring it to me when it gets serious.” It got serious the day before yesterday, we had some contact Wednesday, and then all day yesterday we worked through all the logistics that go into something like this.

On Clarkson wanting a change:
It’s been frustrating for him because he’s never reached his goals or expectations or [that of] others. You get to the point where you wonder if it’s going to work here. Really, during the All Star break, after that you start to think about if there is anywhere else that this could go towards another team; he said, ‘if you can move this along, help me out.’ You try, that’s my job. Credit Toronto for finding something and for Columbus solving a difficult issue they have with the injury. My understanding is they called Toronto at the start of the season on David and like some of the things he brings. It came to fruition about 5:30-6:00 yesterday

On Clarkson’s time in Toronto:
When you care, and you’re sensitive and you wear your heart on the sleeve, it’s not going to help you. Everywhere there’s talk of the Leafs and the underachievement and you’re part of it. You carry it home and it doesn’t make for a very good environment at home. Some people can leave their job at the rink; I think David tried to, but at same time I don’t think the Leafs were dependent on Clarkson. It’s a team effort, a group effort. It’s a tough place to play. It’s been 48 years since the Stanley Cup, and one playoff in 10 years. It’s frustrating. I grew up in Toronto and no one likes it, everyone wants it to be better.

The positives of Toronto and if he would recommend it to a client:
I think the organization, as with a handful of others in the NHL, they treat their players very well; with class, they treat them like gold, and offer all the elements that an athlete would enjoy. Away from the rink, the practice rink is a great facility, and they’ll do anything to make it easier on the athlete and his family. That’s a positive. It’s not going to scare me from recommending Toronto per se. A player will always make his own decision. I think, when I was negotiating for Tyler Bozak, one of the things that was easy to sell was opportunity. Tyler has had a good career and has been a good Maple Leaf because of that opportunity. That probably presents itself this summer going forward as they can offer opportunity while overhauling their lineup. There’s a new style of management with lots of different minds, and theories and analytics, and that sometimes can be too cumbersome; that can be too cumbersome but also cutting edge, that you look upon as a positive as well. They will spend money to get to a winner. They’ll have the ability to do something with the coaching staff as they decide to realign that. They’ll spend money, which sometimes can be a positive as well.

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