EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – The separating element Brandt Clarke can bring to the Los Angeles Kings’ defense came to the forefront when it was necessary.
As an important third-period power play was nearing its end on Monday, Clarke carried the puck through the neutral zone and entered the Ottawa Senators’ zone before pulling back and finding a trailing Corey Perry. Perry drove deeper and pulled the attention of two Senators penalty-killers to create a late setup, and then sent the puck back up to Joel Edmundson along the right wall high up in the offensive zone.
Clarke was in shot mode at the point. Edmundson gave him a soft pass and the 22-year-old hammered the puck. A split second later, with just two seconds left on the advantage in a tie game, Clarke was jubilant as his Kings teammates mobbed him.
“Just the moment, I think,” he said. “The building got loud for it. Six minutes left. I think I was just excited. That’s kind of what that was.”
A fortunate bounce off an Ottawa defenseman helped redirect the puck past goalie Leevi Merilainen, but bounces always happen in hockey. The important thing is, Clarke’s goal ended up as the difference in a 2-1 Kings victory. Every victory for Los Angeles is hard-fought — only three of their 11 have been by more than a goal. What is also important for Clarke, beyond the game-winning goals, is his continued growth into a minutes-eating defenseman who can provide an impact for the Kings at both ends of the ice.
On Monday, Clarke played 20 minutes, 24 seconds, third-most among the Kings defensemen behind Brian Dumoulin and Edmundson. That ice time is down from the prior three contests: 22:53 at Washington, a season-high 23:56 at San Jose and 21:59 vs. Boston. It isn’t much coincidence that the spike in playing time comes while Drew Doughty is out injured.
Clarke is in his fourth NHL season but just his second as a lineup regular. At present, he is the puck-moving offense generator from the back end. Some might argue he already was, even when Doughty was healthy and logging his usual heavy minutes. Clarke’s three goals and 10 points either tie or lead the defense in those categories.
Now is the time for the Kings to lean on Clarke, the No. 8 draft pick in 2021. The dynamic vision and creativity that made him a big-time point-producer in junior hockey — 30 goals and 84 points in just 43 games between the regular season and playoffs — could more than balance out the skating and defending concerns. And he has shown that.
“I think that he’s an important part of the future,” Kings general manager Ken Holland said. “He’s also an important part of the present.”
Holland recently pointed out Clarke also is a regular on their second power-play unit, while his minutes are pushing toward the level he reached in the OHL and he is developing into the all-situations defender they envisioned. “That’s what we’re hoping he can grow into,” Holland said. “Again, he’s still pretty young. He’s in a great spot.”
But Clarke isn’t an all-situations player — yet. It has been a process to bring him to this point, where he is solidly entrenched on the second pairing. He doesn’t kill penalties. The Kings routinely deploy five forwards on the power play’s first unit, so his time with the man advantage often comes with under a minute left. The shift after his goal Monday was his final one, because others were tasked with defending the lead over the final five minutes.
The Kings seem to have a measured plan for Clarke. The question of his ice time often has come up with coach Jim Hiller. After Clarke averaged 16:17 — and scored 33 points — in 78 games last season, his minutes were sharply reduced in a six-game playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers.
“I don’t think there was a master plan,” Hiller said. “It basically comes down to how quick can the player adjust to playing defense in the National Hockey League? Which is really difficult. You get out there having some of those guys — all of them for the most part — but there’s some players in particular you have to be able to contain them. The puck will end up in the back of your net pretty quickly. Clarkie’s done as good a job as I’ve seen coming in and getting through that.
“Part of it for him is just reading the game, knowing when to go, how to defend. I think he really understood the game last year. I think his sense of the game on both sides of the puck by the end of the season was excellent. The summer was really important for him. I think he put on a lot of strength. Maybe he went back and watched last year. He kind of had a hard time containing some of the guys and taking them wide. Now he’s on their hips and he’s actually knocking them off balance and it makes a complete world of difference for him and the rest of the guys on the ice.”
The Kings have the 6-foot-2 Clarke listed at 200 pounds. He didn’t go into the specifics of his offseason workouts. other than to say the goal was to get his weight up and that he took more supplements. But the summer was about strengthening his argument for more ice time.
“Honestly, I think I wore down a little bit last year,” he said. “I was at a point where I wasn’t like ready to go — like not ready to go, but I feel like maybe my body was worn down and that can happen to a young guy. But I was like I don’t want that to be the case this year. I want to be good to go if I’m called on and I don’t want any setbacks mentally, personally, anything.”
Holland said Clarke’s physical testing numbers reflected his dedication to improving his fitness. The pairing with Edmundson, who is in his 11th NHL season, has given him a veteran partner.
“That’s what we did in Edmonton with (Evan) Bouchard and (Philip) Broberg. Duncan Keith and Mattias Ekholm,” Holland said. “That’s what’s going on here. Brandt’s with a good pro. He’s found good chemistry.”
But is the trust there from the Kings? The praise from Hiller about Clarke’s defensive improvements started in camp and went through the preseason, but Clarke’s ice time hovered between 14 and 19 minutes in the first three weeks. While he provided the winning goal to beat the Sharks on Oct. 28, Clarke played only 13:44. Many of those early games saw him log the least ice time among Kings blueliners.
That has changed lately, particularly with Doughty out. Clarke draws extra shifts when the Kings are trailing and in need of more offense, and his advanced metrics suggest he no longer needs sheltering.
Per Natural Stat Trick, Clarke’s 57.43 Corsi-for rating in five-on-five play not only leads Kings defensemen, it is near the top among all NHL regulars on the back end. He’s got an impressive 15-9 edge in goals scored while he’s on the ice (62.50 GF%). Scoring chance measurements are in his favor. Defensive metrics (2.19 xGA/60, 1.52 GA/60), per Evolving-Hockey, are not only improved from 2024-25 but also grade out as the best on the Los Angeles blue line.
Hiller cautioned that there are “all kinds of numbers” that can be interpreted as to “that looks good or this doesn’t.” Jordan Spence also had favorable metrics, but that didn’t stop the Kings from trading him last summer. Spence might have also been redundant given his skill set, and the bigger Clarke, a homegrown top-10 pick, is different in their eyes.
“How well he’s improved at making good defensive plays and limiting his poor plays — it’s just been incredible,” Hiller said. “It does match the eye test from that respect, but also some of our internal stuff, he’s just made marked improvements.”
The day Clarke takes the reins from Doughty as the Kings’ No. 1 option on defense has yet to be determined, but a foundation is being built. Clarke said he notices how he’s handled defending opponents better in the corners, along the walls and below the L.A. goal line. He said he’s improved his feet and sees where he can close the gap faster when opposing skaters are hitting the blue line in his direction.
Playing with Edmundson has also been a plus. “He’s told me he’s never played with a guy that gets him the puck like I do,” Clarke said. “I take that as a compliment and that puts a smile on my face.”
While he isn’t killing penalties, Clarke sits in every meeting and pines for when he is asked to. A long-term contract seems to be in the works — Clarke, a pending restricted free agent, and Holland said some preliminary talks on an extension have been struck.
“I talked to (assistant coach) D.J. (Smith) and I think there was moments of last season where like they’d be really cautious of who was on the ice against me and how I need to know who I’m on the ice against,” Clarke said. “But now, I think the last week or so, he’s like, ‘I trust you against anyone in the league five-on-five. Like, I want you out there all the time.’ He has full belief in me. There’s no red flags or anything like that. I can shut it down when I need to and whatever it may be. Move the puck up the ice and just be a part of the play and everything.
“The coaching staff’s been great for me. I feel I have been taking that step to being an all-situations player. And that’s what I want to be. Whether we’re up, down a goal, I just want help out the best I can. I think I’m taking steps in the right direction and when that time comes, I’ll be ready for it.”