Former Hartford Wolf Pack defender Adam Clendening has signed a one-year deal with Finnish Liiga club Tampere Ilves, the team announced last week.
Clendening, who has played 90 games in the NHL for seven different teams, playing 31 games for the Rangers in 2016-2017, registering two goals and nine assists. He played 20 games with the Wolf Pack last season, tallying one goal and eight assists. Clendening signed a PTO (professional tryout contract) with the Rangers on September 22 before being waived by the club on September 29 after training camp. Despite their early success to start the season, it will be interesting to see how the Wolf Pack fare without the veteran defenseman.
After last weekend’s game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Hartford rookie Brett Berard spoke to the impact the current veteran players are having on the Wolf Pack roster, saying, “I’m trying to learn from them and the lessons they’ve been giving me are really helpful.”
With only two Hartford defenseman above the age of 25, it would have been interesting to see not only what the AHL veteran Clendening brought to the team statistically, but also as a leader in the locker room for a young team still learning how to navigate the professional leagues.
As for the Finnish club Ilves, they’ve landed a solid piece to their defense and locker room. In seasons where he plays for 50 or more games, Clendening averages 47 points per season. For a team looking to fight their way into the Champions Hockey League (CHL) playoffs, Clendening could prove to be quite the addition to the roster, especially with almost a full season behind him by the time the new year rolls around.
After his first three games with the Ilves, Clendening has already notched an impressive two goals and one assist for three points in as many games. Clendening will look to keep his early success going when Tampere takes on the Kuopio KalPa on Wednesday at 6:30pm EET in Tampere.
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