Let's look at some numbers and compare how both players are performing so far with their respective new teams.
Nino is, unsurprisingly, out-scoring Clutterbuck so far. 13 points is a pretty good return from a young forward who is finding his feet in the NHL. One thing he needs to improve is the amount of shot attempts he is getting. Cal is attempting nearly 6 more shots than him per game.
Cal clearly hasn't lost his ability to rack-up ridiculous hit counts. Nino is putting his body around the place quite a bit too. Both players are seeing time on the powerplay, and, weirdly, Cal isn't being used on the PK. Nino is getting more overall TOI per game.
Nino has much better puck possession numbers. Being a +5.2% Corsi relative player on a strong puck possession team is no mean feat.
Any suggestion that Nino's excellent puck possession numbers are a result of his deployment are blown-up here. He is getting a lower percentage of defensive zone starts than Clutterbuck, but also a lower percentage of offensive zone starts. He is mostly getting deployed in the neutral zone.
Nino is facing narrowly tougher competition than Clutterbuck, but with better teammates. He has spent a reasonable percentage of his minutes with Koivu and Pominville, but, his most regular linemate has been Granlund, who, for all his good offensive play, has been somewhat of a poor puck possession player this year. Nino has spent almost 50% of his TOI with Granlund and has still produced excellent numbers.
Cal's most regular linemate has been Regin by a wide margin. He has also spent a considerable amount of time with Grabner. Both of those guys are pretty good players.
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