Pavel Malyugin 
Brandt Clarke was heading into the 2022-23 NHL training camp as a player looking to make a name for himself at the pro level. When Clarke was drafted eighth overall by the LA Kings in the 2021 NHL entry draft, he was seen as one of the most offensively inclined defenders in the entire draft. Some scouts even ranked him higher than Owen Power and Luke Hughes. To say that the Kings got lucky that he fell to eighth overall would be an understatement.
In Clarke’s DY+1 (season after draft year), he tallied an impressive 59 points in 55 games and made the OHL’s Second All-Star team. While he recorded plenty of points, many came from the powerplay and were mostly assists. Clarke had only 11 goals, yet he led his OHL team, the Barrie Colts, in points and wore the captaincy.
Going into the Rookie Faceoff, Clarke was deemed one of the best prospects throughout the entire tournament in San Jose. In the end, he had four assists in three games and one shootout game-winner and was easily the best player at the tournament.
While Clarke did play against mostly AHL and junior players, his speed, offensive tenacity, and playmaking ability looked like it would translate into the NHL level almost immediately. Then, shortly after the rookie tournament wrapped up, the NHL training camp commenced.
Clarke was given heftier minutes and more quantitative playing opportunities than most defenders right out of the gate, as he appeared in every pre-season game. It was straightforward that Todd McLellan and the coaching staff were invested in the 19-year-old defender and wanted to test his legitimacy night after night. Placing him on the roster with every game was a certification of how Clarke would handle playing nocturnally.
Brandt Clarke used the opportunity he was given, and he used it well. In five games played, Clarke has put up two assists (both primary). He’s also been one of the more ecstatic and energizing players to watch as he’s contributed to transition, tight-space creation of plays, and offensive zone cycles. It’s hard to deny that Brandt Clarke has looked like a full-time NHLer at 19 years young.
Right now, Brandt Clarke looks like he will make the Los Angeles Kings. Whether the Kings are going to play him top minutes at a short period of time (nine games, to be exact) or they’ll play him in sheltered minutes for a longer period, it does feel more and more likely with every game that Clarke will be a member of the NHL squad come October 11th. It’s presumed that Clarke gets moderate minutes in the first nine games of the season as the LA Kings use the notorious nine-game trial to their advantage.
NHL rookies in the first years of their entry-level contracts are eligible to play in 9 NHL games before the first year of their ELC is ticked off. So if the Kings are still unsure about Clarke after the first nine games that Clarke plays, they’ll be able to send him back down to the OHL for the rest of the year without the contract losing that first year.
If Clarke plays 10 or more games, that contract burns a year.
Sean Durzi, a staple to the LA Kings defensive core, will likely miss the start of the 2022-23 NHL season as he’ll continue healing from a shoulder injury he suffered against the Edmonton Oilers back in the 2022 NHL playoffs. Durzi joined the Kings later in the season last year, and he was arguably LA’s best offensive defender all season. Scoring 27 points in 64 games, Durzi helped out the Kings at even strength and on the powerplay. Now, the Kings will have to work their way around knowing that Durzi’s timetable for returning is, in essence, unknown.
Even though missing Durzi for however long he’ll be out will impact the scoring from the defensive core, it does open up an extra spot for Brandt Clarke to make an impact on the LA Kings roster.
Assuming that Tobias Björnfot and Jordan Spence get sent down to the Ontario Reign of the AHL (as they aren’t waiver eligible), the LA Kings defensive roster may consist of the following:
- Drew Doughty
- Matt Roy
- Sean Walker
- Sean Durzi (IR)
- Brandt Clarke
- Jacob Moverare
- Mikey Anderson
- Alex Edler
NHL teams usually roll with seven NHL defenders on their respective rosters, with six playing every night and one being a healthy scratch in case of an injury or a substitute option if a player has a rough stretch. While Durzi technically won’t count as an option since he will likely start the season on injured reserve, it’s fair to assume that the Kings will roll with eight defenders just in case a change needs to be made.
In this case, it’ll be a toss-up between Clarke and Moverare. Every other player on this list has already earned himself an NHL role, and they’ll all be guaranteed roster spots no matter how they start the season individually. Once Durzi comes back, Clarke may have already finished his nine-game trial.
If Clarke appeared in nine games or less and the Kings did not like how he played at the NHL level, he would be able to be sent back to Barrie without losing a year on his ELC. But remember, if Brandt gets sent down to the OHL, he won’t be able to come back until the 2023-24 NHL season.
If the Kings do like what they see from Clarke and want to hold on to him, they’ll likely place Jacob Moverare on waivers for the purpose of AHL assignment. Moverare getting sent down to Ontario does seem like the most viable option seeing how Moverare played in 30 AHL games last year.
The risk is that the Kings lose a 24-year-old defender who looked decent enough in his 19 NHL games last year. While it’s believable that the Kings would rather risk losing Moverare to waivers than Clarke for an entire year, it’ll still be a burdensome settlement for the LA Kings management and coaching staff.
So if Moverare gets placed on waivers and reports to Ontario, that leaves the LA Kings’ defensive roster looking like this:
- Drew Doughty
- Matt Roy
- Sean Walker
- Sean Durzi
- Brandt Clarke
- Mikey Anderson
- Alex Edler
At that point, the LA Kings will have seven defenders that could play an entire 82-game season. Injuries will inevitably happen so that we can pencil in the extra defensemen for a few games a year. But occasional substitutions will need to be made. Mikey Anderson, Drew Doughty, Sean Durzi, and Matt Roy are the only defenders that will be listed for every game possible. Every other player could be considered a healthy scratch now and then.
Clarke will likely have a few off games seeing how he’s still a rookie, so it won’t be a total bewilderment to see him be a healthy scratch after a tough couple of games. Edler is 36 years of age now, and even though he was more than serviceable last year, he had a few games where he was left off the lineup for “rest games.” Those rest days will likely increase or happen again.
Walker is a talented offensive defender whose point production may not show every night, but his analytical numbers defend the case. Even though he will do better than people expect, he could still sit out some nights if players like Clarke outplay him on a nightly basis.
While this is an excellent problem to have, sharing ice time will be an issue for the LA Kings this upcoming season. With the sudden emergence of Clarke, the LA Kings will be forced to make a few sacrifices night to night, and players that would’ve been full-time regulars last season will be healthy scratches occasionally this upcoming season.
Featured Image Credit: NHL.com