In his third go around, Brandt Clarke hopeful to use development camp as his first step towards the NHL
Of the 34 players on the ice for development camp in Los Angeles, just one comes with NHL experience. That would be defenseman Brandt Clarke.
Clarke’s experience makes this week a little bit different for him than for other players, for a variety of reasons. For starters, he’s attended a couple of these camps before, so he’s been there, done that. He’s also coming in with expectations that most others are not. Clarke will be a full-time professional player this season, whether that be at the NHL level or the AHL level. The goal is certainly the former, however and he’s hoping that this week will be his first step towards the ultimate goal of cracking the roster on Opening Night.
“I want to be a full-time LA King,” Clarke said after Day 1 of Development Camp. “I got the taste of it last year, I got in a groove with the players around here and I felt really comfortable, that’s where I want to be, I was loving it. I want to be a contributor, I want to help out, I want to help them get over the finish that they’ve been stuck on over the last couple of years. If I can be a contributor [in the NHL], that’d be really awesome.”
Clarke skated in nine games with the Kings at the start of last season, in addition to five games with the Ontario Reign. While a few others here at camp got into AHL games this past season, Clarke is the only one to have featured at both levels and he got the lay of the land throughout his time with the Kings.
If you ask him, it’s a solid foundation to build upon as he gets things going here entering the 2023-24 season. He’s more comfortable coming in than he was a season ago and he’s more confident as well…..and he was never lacking in confidence.
“It meant a lot, it’s just building confidence, building trust within the organization, they know me a lot better than the year before,” Clarke added. “In my rookie year, I got sick and I didn’t really have a camp, so [getting] to hang out even longer last year, it meant a whole lot. I’m really comfortable with a lot of players on the team, the staff, the people I saw every day for three months. It was all a big contribution for me, so I’m really grateful that I got to hang around and that they wanted me to play on this team.”
Ultimately, Clarke’s path led him to the World Junior Championships, where he won gold with Team Canada and eventually back to the OHL, where he spent the season prior. Clarke’s dominance of that league was unlike most who came before him. Though he didn’t make his season debut with the Barrie Colts until January, Clarke still amassed 61 points, fifth most in the OHL, despite playing in fewer than half the games of the four players ranked above him. In 28 less games played than the league leader in goals by a defenseman, Clarke’s 23 were just two shy of the league lead. He was nearly two points-per-game in the playoffs as well and he was named to the OHL’s First All-Star Team.
When you look at numbers like that, it’s clear Clarke took his assignment seriously when he went back to juniors, despite a talent level that should have seen him at least in the AHL, had rules permitted it. He did his best to take a professional level to the OHL, though, which shined through in his play.
“I took that in stride and when I got back there, I just wanted to keep all the good habits that I had, I wanted to bring that pro-level game to the junior ranks and I feel like I did that,” Clarke said. “Every night I had the determination that you have to play your absolute best and never take a day off or anything like that. It’s nice to get to the pro level and be able to show guys in the Barrie locker room that’s done. I think that’s why I was so successful myself, because I brought along all the guys with me and that pro vibe was in the room.”
With that experience now comes expectation, especially during a week like this.
Take Clarke and say Jakub Dvorak for example. Clarke is entering his draft +3 season, meaning he’s been through two full campaigns since he was selected back in 2021 and two development camps in between. Dvorak has barely been with the organization a week, since he was picked seven days prior in the second round. The two were paired together on certain drills in the defensive section, which is one of the most interesting parts of development camp, is that you have a wide range of experiences and a wide range in the development process.
For a player like Clarke, Sean O’Donnell of the Kings player development staff says the expectation is greater, which means the margin for error is lesser. Comes with the territory for a player the organization is hopeful will be an immediate NHL contributor.
“He probably has a little shorter leash as far as mistakes,” O’Donnell said of a more experienced player like Clarke, compared to others. “With Clarkie, you want to kind of nip those things down and any looseness in his play is tighter than some of the other guys, but you still want to make it as tight as possible because we’re counting on him to make the Kings this year. If he does, those coaches want to be able to trust that when they put you out there, you’re not going to make [the same mistakes] over and over again. His margin for error is tighter than some of those younger players that we know are farther away.”
As O’Donnell alluded to, Clarke will have every opportunity during training camp to cement a spot on the NHL roster. After recent transactions that saw NHL regulars Sean Durzi and Sean Walker moved out of the organization in separate deals, the Kings have an opening on the right side behind Drew Doughty and Matt Roy, with Clarke and Jordan Spence the odds-on favorites to fill it, injecting some youth onto the backend in the process.
While not exactly the same player, O’Donnell recognized some similarities between Clarke and Durzi early in their respective development processes. Both were high point producers at the OHL level and both are capable of a home-run shift any time they step over the boards. While Clarke’s draft pedigree and OHL production was higher, there are some stylistic similarities in their games. Having a guy like Clarke is one reason the Kings were comfortable making the moves they did, as a player like Durzi carried a higher salary-cap hit and was a year closer to an even larger one as he continues to produce offensively.
A focus this week with Clarke specifically is preparing him for certain aspects of that OHL to NHL transition, recognizing the talent he brings and impact he’s capable of when he applies it the right way. Even in today’s scrimmage, O’Donnell felt that Clarke tried to do a little bit too much at times, but when it worked out, he made plays. It’s that area that will continue to be a point of emphasis with the talented youngster.
“He’s a unique kind of player, I don’t think you want to box him in, but he reminds me a little bit Sean Durzi when he first came out,” O’Donnell said. “You don’t hit a home run at every shift at the NHL level. You can do it in junior, sometimes even in the minor leagues, but the guys are so good here that you just have to pick your spots when you go and don’t try and manufacture something when it’s not there. The game will present itself naturally and those guys have the kind of talent that when it happens, they can take advantage of it. When they’re trying to force things or trying to crowbar and make a play happen when it’s not there, that’s when they get in trouble. If he can play within himself, which I think he does, at the highest stage, he’s a dynamic player and there’s not many players like that.”
While that’s getting ahead of things a bit here, Clarke is that level of player and the Kings expect him, in time, to be that level a contributor.
In the here and now, though, his focus is on development camp, with the hopes that it can serve as the first step for him towards the NHL level. As a camp veteran, Clarke is looked at as a leader, as someone who can help younger and less experienced players along in the process. During training camp last September, Clarke was the wide-eyed rookie himself, looking up to players like Doughty for guidance in his own process. In a week like this, Clarke is the role of mentor, with others around him looking at him to lead the way. It’s something he embraces and something the staff around him is looking for.
“I think that’s part of the leadership thing, it comes in different levels,” O’Donnell added “Obviously at the top, you have the Kopitar’s and Doughty’s, but it’s about now a Mikey Anderson taking care of some of the young guys coming in and even a Brandt Clarke taking care of these guys, just doing everything to help the guys at different levels, to say I’ve been there, I know what it’s like. Leadership’s at all different kinds of levels and phases but it’s great to see when someone who’s been there before is able to take someone under their wing.”
Clarke will continue to be counted on throughout the week as an example, both for himself as he pushes towards training camp, and as a player to set the tone for others. He can’t make the team this week by any means, but he can take the right first step towards doing so come October. An exciting player to watch, as always.
