Ontario Reign: Brandt Clarke’s season update

Clarke’s season so far

Brandt Clarke has come just as advertised in his first full professional season. In the summer, I was a big advocate of having him AND Jordan Spence on the LA Kings’ opening night roster. Unfortunately, we live in a world of reality and not fantasy. The reality was only one could make the roster. That spot went to Spence, who paid his dues the last two years in the AHL and is more mature defensively than Clarke. It was either 3rd pair minutes in LA or top-pair minutes and play in all situations in Ontario. The organization chose the latter, and there’s nothing wrong with having your top prospect develop.

With the Ontario Reign, Clarke has been paired with Jacob Moverare for the most part and with Tobias Bjornfot, Kevin Connauton, Kim Nousiainen, and Tyler Inamoto when Moverare hasn’t been in the lineup. Clarke has thrived on the offensive side of the ice, while his work on the defensive side is being aimed for improvement. Through the Reign’s first 27 games, Clarke has been a point-per-game player (27 points). He currently leads the team in assists (22), primary assists (13), power-play assists (10), points (27), and shots on goal (83). That’s not all, as he is 13th in the AHL in scoring and leads all defensemen and rookie defensemen in that same category.

Head coach Marco Sturm has Clarke quarterbacking the first power-play unit, killing penalties, and playing big minutes at five-on-five. After the Reign’s season-opening loss to the Gulls, Sturm praised the 20-year-old and mentioned how much he wants to be a difference-maker. Having watched a lot of Reign games, Clarke wants to be that player. If he has a chance to be aggressive, create chances, or make something out of nothing, he’ll seize the opportunity to do so.

Just watch these two plays below and you’ll see what I mean.

Dynamic. Offensive. Defenseman. All the things we heard about in the OHL last season have carried over for him this season.

Call-up this year?

Don’t be mad at me for this, but I will say no. The only way I see Clarke getting playing time in LA this season is if the Kings are decimated with injuries on the backend. Matt Roy, a right-handed defenseman, is a free agent after the season, but I don’t think the Kings should trade him at the deadline to make room for Clarke for two reasons. Number one, Roy is the Kings’ best defenseman, and trading him to make room for Clarke would be a mistake. Secondly, the Kings have shown to be patient with the development of their prospects.

While Clarke is a stud on the offensive end, his defensive game is a work in progress. There are times he’ll try to do too much with the puck or not take a proper angle in one-on-one defense situations. While it doesn’t happen every game, it’s important to work on those in the AHL and not in the NHL for a team that has no time for development at that level with the championship aspirations they have. By staying in the AHL for the season, Clarke can continue to improve his game while getting top-pair minutes and playing in every situation for the Reign. After all, the AHL is a developmental league.