D Brandt Clarke - (2021, 8th, LAK)

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I like this kid. Added a lot of offense to Canada at the World Jr's. He'll struggle initially defensively in the NHL, like 95% of young defensemen, but if he works at it can become a fine 2-way top 4 defenseman. Maybe top pair.
 
Luckily for him, he's in an organization that doesn't expect its defenders to defend. As long as he puts up points, he can be a liability on defense, like Durzi, and Blake and McLellan won't care.
 
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Getting 4 years at Doughty University coming up will do wonders to polish his game. Wouldn’t surprise me to see a 80 point peak the way he keeps adding confidence. Crazy good now.

Doughty in particular gets overexcited about every young dman that comes along, you should have seen how effusive he was for Toby Bjornfot...

But it's going to be really fun to watch a guy who has confessed modeling his game after Doughty and has a lot of the same chip-on-the-shoulder competitive streak and desire to be the best. The comparisons are naturally there, but it will be interesting to see how a grown-up Drew molds a kid who grew up watching him and is the most raw talented dman we've had since Drew and maybe before.
 
that Barrie team is different with him.

they are the best team in the OHL in my opinion in LARGE part to him.

Was at the game last night and wondering "Is Hamilton that bad?"

No, Clarke is just that good. Such a smart player with great vision. No look passes on the money all the time. Half the time he goes in on net he's looking off the goalie like he's passing and then fires it in.
 
I wonder if this extra time down in Junior will end up being a blessing in disguise for Clarke's development. He will only get stronger over the summer, and be very confident going into next year. Maybe have him play in the AHL, unless his level is such that he HAS to be in the NHL. When he does, plug him into the PP, and pair him with a solid LD, such as Anderson or a re-signed(?) Gavrikov.

He seems to be destroying the CHL right now. As much as i take CHL stats with a large grain of salt....yikes... those numbers are pretty crazy.
 
He had a lot of confidence going into this year. You should've seen him in Kings training camp. It seemed to evaporate once Blake and McLellan started jerking him around, though. I don't have a lot of faith that those two won't find a way to do it again (though the circumstances will be different, obviously). I expect him to look NHL ready in the Fall, but spend most of the season in the AHL, anyways, because Blake won't want to lose Sean Walker or some other silly reason.
 
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