Clarke primed to play, stay in NHL with Kings this season

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Brandt Clarke has one goal this season.

"I want to be a full-time L.A. King," he said during Los Angeles Kings development camp last month.

Everything is in place for that to become reality for the 20-year-old defenseman, selected by the Kings with the No. 8 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. It began with two assists during a successful nine-game introductory stint to open last season with Los Angeles, and continued with the Kings making several offseason moves to free up potential roster spots.

Following his nine-game NHL debut, Clarke had a goal and an assist in five games with Ontario of the American Hockey League before he was reassigned to Barrie of the Ontario Hockey League, where he ranked fifth among OHL defensemen with 61 points (23 goals, 38 assists) in 31 games.

He's expected to play on the third defense pair this season and could also see time on the second power play, allowing him to highlight his strong offensive instincts and traits.

"You know, I got a taste of [the NHL] last year," he said. "I kind of got in the groove with the players around here, and I felt really comfortable, and that's where I want to be."

Los Angeles wanted to see Clarke (6-foot-2, 185 pounds) dominate in his final season of junior hockey, and he responded with nearly two points per game in the regular season and he did that with 61 points (23 goals, 38 points) in 31 regular-season games and 23 points (seven goals, 16 points) in 12 OHL playoff games, seventh among defensemen.

Clarke also helped Canada win the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship with eight points (two goals, six assists) in seven games, tied for third among defensemen in the tournament.

"I wanted to bring that pro-level game to the junior ranks, and I feel like I did that," he said. "Every night I had the determination that you have to play your absolute best. I didn't take a day off or anything like that. That's how it has to be at the pro level, and I think I showed a lot of guys in that Barrie locker room that's how it's done."

The Kings will be counting on Clarke to make a smooth transition to a full-time role in the NHL. fulltime. They traded defenseman Sean Walker to the Philadelphia Flyers as part of a three-way trade that also involved the Columbus Blue Jackets on June 6 and defenseman Sean Durzi to the Arizona Coyotes on June 24.

Sean O'Donnell, who works in player development for Los Angeles, said he expects Clarke to quickly figure out the right times to be creative with the puck.

"You don't hit a home run at every shift at the NHL level," said O'Donnell, who played 17 seasons as an NHL defenseman from 1994-2012. "You can do it in junior and you can do it sometimes even in the minor leagues, but the guys are so good here, you just have to pick your spots when you go, and don't try and manufacture something when it's not there."

The learning curve for Clarke could be familiar to the Kings, who saw similar growing pains from Drew Doughty at the start of his outstanding career.

"Those players, it takes a little while to learn," O'Donnell said. "'Look, that play didn't work. You can't do that again.' But he will try something if he believes it's the right play.

"Drew Doughty was a lot like that, and I'm not comparing the two players, but Drew would try something and he wasn't going to change because it was late in the game or the stakes got high or you're out against so-and-so. If he feels it's the right play and he feels it's worth it, he'll do it.

"Is it always the right play? No. But it's nice to see those kind of players."