D Brandt Clarke - Ontario Reign, AHL (2021, 8th, LAK)

[Artorius Horus T]

Nothing away from Brandt Clarke but damn OHL hockey this season is at super trash level.
Clarke is really good, but not about 50 goal, 86 assist and about 140 point player in the juniors good..

I get it, its a pro player playing in the juniors situation but c'mon here, his stats are just too over the top.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

George is mad. The stats are too good.

I have seen it all now.

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

Clarke threads on here would be on like part 4 or 5 at this point if he was drafted by a Canadian team

 

[Captain97]

Clarke threads on here would be on like part 4 or 5 at this point if he was drafted by a Canadian team

Makes sense we have massive fan bases/activity on HF.

 

[LAKings88]

Nothing away from Brandt Clarke but damn OHL hockey this season is at super trash level.
Clarke is really good, but not about 50 goal, 86 assist and about 140 point player in the juniors good..

I get it, its a pro player playing in the juniors situation but c'mon here, his stats are just too over the top.

Not to trash on him tho.

 

[Hale The Villain]

One thing that is undoubtedly helping Clarke's production, and the production of other top offensive D at every level of NA hockey, is the new PP setup where the QB sets up at the top and moves the puck to the sides, leading to increased assist numbers due to a greater number of puck touches.

Easy to see this with historically high D scoring numbers. There's a dozen NHL D on pace for over 70 points, and there's 20 defensemen producing over a PPG in the CHL this season.

Still Clarke is significantly ahead of the rest in that regard. Has all the makings of a Klingberg-type D (at his peak in Dallas).

 

[kilowatt]

Clarke's really doing something special in the OHL right now. Most players have played at least twice as many games as he has this season. Through 30 games, Clarke is 5th in scoring among defensemen and 50th among all players with 21 goals and 59 points. He's 1st in the entire league in points per game and 3rd in +/-, and could end up with the most goals by a defenseman by the end of the year (he only needs three more goals to catch Mailloux).

It's not like Clarke's competition is significantly younger than him, either. 12 of the top 20 leading scorers among defensemen were born in '02 or '03 (Clarke's an '03).

 

[LAKings88]

If he wasn’t tearing up the league people would say that he is a bust.

Big question is does he blow the doors off at training camp? Kings have too many rhd men.

Currently the AHL team has lost like 8 in a row. They could use him if they make it to the playoffs.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Who really cares about the counting stats?

Since arriving in the OHL the Barrie Colts are the league's best team - and you'd be a fool to think it wasn't due to Clarkes arrival. Without him, they'd be fighting with the Petes. Bulldogs and Steelheads.

Lets hope he keeps it up

 

[Shroud of Orrin]

One thing that is undoubtedly helping Clarke's production, and the production of other top offensive D at every level of NA hockey, is the new PP setup where the QB sets up at the top and moves the puck to the sides, leading to increased assist numbers due to a greater number of puck touches.

Easy to see this with historically high D scoring numbers. There's a dozen NHL D on pace for over 70 points, and there's 20 defensemen producing over a PPG in the CHL this season.

Still Clarke is significantly ahead of the rest in that regard. Has all the makings of a Klingberg-type D (at his peak in Dallas).

No. I can't buy that comparison. Klinger never had the nuts Clarke has.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

If he wasn’t tearing up the league people would say that he is a bust.

Big question is does he blow the doors off at training camp? Kings have too many rhd men.

Currently the AHL team has lost like 8 in a row. They could use him if they make it to the playoffs.

Gotta be honest, I didn't expect that plot twist.

Player doesn't tear up the league: bust

Player tears up the league: League is trash

Clarke is absolutely special offensively even going back to LAs camp last year. In any normal reasonable situation he never would have been yo-yo'ed from league to league and the only way he's not on the Kings next year is Blake's infatuation with being the smartest person in the room by artificially deflating youth contracts and holding onto waiver eligibility as long as possible by benching and sending them to the AHL when they are better players than vets in front of them by every metric.

It's only a matter of time before they start next year with 5 RHDs again and put Clarke on the bottom pairing left d with Durzi on the right or some convoluted shit, everything they do is as difficult as possible and it's getting hard to watch the franchise yank kids around, especially when they respond by going out and nuking everything in sight.

 

[Deleted member 339941]

 

[ponder]

I’ll be the first to admit that coming into this season, I underestimated him. I thought he had high end offensive skill, but some question marks in his defensive game, and a somewhat unconventional skating stride. But he’s even more elite offensively than I thought - incredible poise, vision, hands, elusiveness and confidence, just so hard to contain with the puck. His skating may be a bit unconventional, but it’s excellent, his edgework especially. His defensive game has taken strides too, he’s not gonna be a shutdown defender, but it’s also not a concern.

1D upside, and basically a lock to become a quality top 4D. Will be surprised if he’s not a full time NHLer next year.

 

[Shroud of Orrin]

Two more goals tonight on 4 shots half way through. He a machine.

 

[Deleted member 339941]

 

[wetcoast]

Clarke threads on here would be on like part 4 or 5 at this point if he was drafted by a Canadian team

18th part if it was the Leafs.

 

[kyle44]

Nothing away from Brandt Clarke but damn OHL hockey this season is at super trash level.
Clarke is really good, but not about 50 goal, 86 assist and about 140 point player in the juniors good..

I get it, its a pro player playing in the juniors situation but c'mon here, his stats are just too over the top.

Your takes never cease to amaze me. An 18 year-old 3rd round pick in Jordan Dumais runs up 6 points against one of the worst teams in the CHL and he's a Gretzky/McDavid hybrid; a 19-year old 8th overall pick (and someone who is widely considered one of the better offensive dmen to come out of Ontario) produces at the same level in the OHL and suddenly the league is trash.....sure.

 

[Petes2424]

It unfortunately was the only move the Kings could make with him, but you can’t ignore what he’s doing. Yea, he’s playing in a league he’s too good for, etc, etc, but he’s certainly making the best of it.

His issue he has to overcome is, he still needs that extra second to make decisions. A second that doesn’t exist in the NHL. That’s normal for young dmen, no matter how skilled they are.

Let’s see where he’s at come training camp. He may very well need a year in the AHL but in some cases, with a high end talented player, it just clicks. If I had to guess though, he plays most the year in Ontario next season. There’s no need to rush him.

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Funny to see a Dman behind the other teams D off the rush. But hey, he's elite and it's obviously working for him.

 

[BizzyBoy]

His game will progress defensively at the next level -Book it

 

[Lt Dan]

His game will progress defensively at the next level -Book it

Indeed
The Kings are pretty good and goalies and D men development

Our F development sucks (insert random body part)

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

It unfortunately was the only move the Kings could make with him, but you can’t ignore what he’s doing. Yea, he’s playing in a league he’s too good for, etc, etc, but he’s certainly making the best of it.

His issue he has to overcome is, he still needs that extra second to make decisions. A second that doesn’t exist in the NHL. That’s normal for young dmen, no matter how skilled they are.

Let’s see where he’s at come training camp. He may very well need a year in the AHL but in some cases, with a high end talented player, it just clicks. If I had to guess though, he plays most the year in Ontario next season. There’s no need to rush him.

It geniuinely didn't look like a problem for him last year at all, at least until they sandbagged him by putting him on the left side

Eager to see what another year does for him though, sky is the limit.

Indeed
The Kings are pretty good and goalies and D men development

Our F development sucks (insert random body part)

Yeah you can't teach those instincts...but the Kings have done excellent things working with individual players' skating (Vilardi, Toffoli) as well as defense, details. Even Fiala is looking passable these days, at the beginning of the season he was playing like Pavel Bure.

 

[wasunder]

Indeed
The Kings are pretty good and goalies and D men development

Our F development sucks (insert random body part)

Sucks…. Forearms?

 

[Lt Dan]

Sucks…. Forearms?

If that is your kink. why not?

 

[BizzyBoy]

Clarke slots in next year on the Kings blue-line but the depth is a huge strength that some guys may have to be moved - which is not a bad thing! I would hope during this draft they try to take some swings at higher risk players who may make an impact down the road instead of just taking safe picks. Just my opinion from a Kings fan