Connor Clifton’s return to the Bruins came with a built-in housing twist, and it’s the kind of thing that could only happen in pro sports.
The veteran defenseman signed a two-year, $4.5 million deal with Boston on July 1, bringing him back to the organization where he spent the first five seasons of his NHL career. He already owned a condominium in the area. As it turned out, he had also rented it out to Bruins forward Alex Steeves.
Neither player knew they’d soon be sharing a locker room.
Clifton and Steeves first connected while representing the United States at the 2026 IIHF World Championship, and when Steeves needed a place in Boston after joining the Bruins, Clifton had exactly the kind of setup that made sense. He sent over photos, Steeves checked it out, and the deal got done.
“I said, ‘Here. Here is my place,’” Clifton told BostonBruins.com’s Belle Fraser.
“Sent him a bunch of pictures and all that. When he got back, he went to see it; he said he was in.”
At the time, there was no reason for Clifton to think twice about it. He had spent the previous three seasons away from Boston, including two years with the Buffalo Sabres and a stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins, so the condo felt like something he could let go of.
Then free agency flipped the script.
Once Clifton signed with the Bruins, Steeves’ landlord became his teammate, and the text message that followed captured the whole absurd little sequence.
“Fast forward like three weeks, July 1. He texted me, and I think he said, quote, ‘Damn, what does this mean?’”
Clifton recalled. “Next message: ‘But congrats though.’”
Clifton said the situation works out just fine because he and his wife, Amanda, were already planning to look for a bigger house with a yard for their two-year-old daughter, Callie.
“It all works out,” Clifton said.
The home mix-up is a funny entry point to Clifton’s second run in Boston, but the bigger story is that he’s coming back to a very different Bruins room. He estimated only six players remain from his first stint, though Charlie McAvoy is one of them, and the two defensemen have already resumed offseason training together at Boston University.
Clifton’s best NHL season came in Boston, where he set career highs with five goals, 18 assists and 23 points in 78 games during the Bruins’ record-setting 2022-23 regular season. He believes the team’s identity is still the same even with the roster turnover.
“Every time we came to the Garden, it was just a battle of a matchup, usually low scoring,” Clifton told the team’s website. “It is a gritty group of guys.
They play so hard, structured in the D-zone. That is kind of the style I have played my best hockey - was in Boston.”
The Bruins are counting on that style again. Clifton’s right-handed shot and physical edge give them another experienced option on the blue line, and the two-year deal at $2.25 million per season shows this is more than just a feel-good reunion.
For now, though, there’s one simple reality: the condo stays with Steeves. Clifton is back in Boston, but he’ll need to find a new place to live.
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