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

[Ghetty Green]

Is that good? 10 points in 2 games?

That's all fine dandy, but hows his gap control ?

 

[LemonSauceD]

Reminds me of Dougie Hamilton out there. I know his defensive game still is a work in progress but there’s no denying he has elite potential.

 

[LAKings88]

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.

Unless LA wants to keep playing rhd on the left that log jam needs to be dealt with.

I can see Clarke making the team with a solid camp. Durzi staying on the left. Then it comes down to Walker and Spence.

Trade Walker if you can and I guess Spence gets to be 7th d.

Bjornfot is really the guy who needs to solidify a spot. Especially if Gavrikov isn't resigned.

 

[kings11]

Unless LA wants to keep playing rhd on the left that log jam needs to be dealt with.

I can see Clarke making the team with a solid camp. Durzi staying on the left. Then it comes down to Walker and Spence.

Trade Walker if you can and I guess Spence gets to be 7th d.

Bjornfot is really the guy who needs to solidify a spot. Especially if Gavrikov isn't resigned.

If anything, you’re likely to see Brandt on the LH as he pretty ambidextrous for a young Dman and much more so than Durzi..

 

[LAKings88]

If anything, you’re likely to see Brandt on the LH as he pretty ambidextrous for a young Dman and much more so than Durzi..

Maybe so

 

[57special]

Sometimes high end scorers, especially Dmen, who go back to junior after a NHL stint are told to work on their D, and not worry about points.Clarke obviously didn’t get the memo.

 

[bobbythebrain]

Sometimes high end scorers, especially Dmen, who go back to junior after a NHL stint are told to work on their D, and not worry about points.Clarke obviously didn’t get the memo.

He wasn't sent back to work on his game like many others. He was sent back b/c of the logjam in LA.

In his stint in the NHL he wasn't a defensive liability, even playing on his opposite side.

Maybe you didn't get the memo

 

[57special]

He wasn't sent back to work on his game like many others. He was sent back b/c of the logjam in LA.

In his stint in the NHL he wasn't a defensive liability, even playing on his opposite side.

Maybe you didn't get the memo

Really, cause he sure isn’t known as a defensive player. Some LA fans seem to gush about all of their prospects, thinking that they walk on water(i.e. Turcotte). If you think that Clarke is a defense first Dman you don’t have a clue about hockey.

 

[bobbythebrain]

Really, cause he sure isn’t known as a defensive player. Some LA fans seem to gush about all of their prospects, thinking that they walk on water(i.e. Turcotte). If you think that Clarke is a defense first Dman you don’t have a clue about hockey.

Lmao. Nobody said that, and I'm sure nobody wants him to be.

You're in your own world here.

Ptetty sure the Kings org isn't sending him "memos" to slow his current rate of production to play more defense

Memo:" Hey Brandt. We're currently very upset with you dominating and helping your team win lots of games. Please stop embarrassing the LA Kings organization" signed Bozo the Clown

 

[Trash Panda]

Really, cause he sure isn’t known as a defensive player. Some LA fans seem to gush about all of their prospects, thinking that they walk on water(i.e. Turcotte). If you think that Clarke is a defense first Dman you don’t have a clue about hockey.

“He wasn’t a defensive liability” =\= “he is a defensive d man”

Straw. Man.

 

[wasunder]

Sometimes high end scorers, especially Dmen, who go back to junior after a NHL stint are told to work on their D, and not worry about points.Clarke obviously didn’t get the memo.

“Hey coach I’m gonna stop scoring so we can play some hockey in our end”

“Good idea Brandt winning is bad”

Is this how this conversation would go? He’s flat out dominating the league and completely instrumental to Barrie’s success. I don’t know what else people are expecting of him.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Really, cause he sure isn’t known as a defensive player. Some LA fans seem to gush about all of their prospects, thinking that they walk on water(i.e. Turcotte). If you think that Clarke is a defense first Dman you don’t have a clue about hockey.

This sure sounds objective and reasonable and based on things people definitely said and not at all some latent grumpiness about some weird past disagreement.

 

[kilowatt]

Really, cause he sure isn’t known as a defensive player. Some LA fans seem to gush about all of their prospects, thinking that they walk on water(i.e. Turcotte). If you think that Clarke is a defense first Dman you don’t have a clue about hockey.

Who thinks Turcotte walks on water? Talk about hyperbole, jesus christ. The majority of fans on the Kings board just hope he'll have a career at all, his injuries are really concerning. If he does, he's probably a bottom six energy guy at this point. Is there a chance he can reach his pre-draft projected ceiling? I dunno, maybe, but it's not looking likely.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Lmao. Nobody said that, and I'm sure nobody wants him to be.

You're in your own world here.

Ptetty sure the Kings org isn't sending him "memos" to slow his current rate of production to play more defense

Memo:" Hey Brandt. We're currently very upset with you dominating and helping your team win lots of games. Please stop embarrassing the LA Kings organization" signed Bozo the Clown

He might have been told to work on defending. They wouldn't saying anything about offense though. That might just drop if a player is trying to be more defensively responsible.

 

[Surf Nutz]

Pretty sure they told him don't worry about your game, just work on your people skills.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

This sure sounds objective and reasonable and based on things people definitely said and not at all some latent grumpiness about some weird past disagreement.

Lets just call Clarke what he is

The Zegras of defensemen

Cocky and highly skilled... going to bring a lot of fans and a lot of haters.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Lets just call Clarke what he is

The Zegras of defensemen

Cocky and highly skilled... going to bring a lot of fans and a lot of haters.

I have zero problem calling him kind of an asshole. It drives him like it does Doughty, they take ownership of their games and their teams.

But he had some of the best offensive and defensive metrics on the Kings that have persisted through the season despite him playing when the whole team was dog shit and the rest of the team improving throughout the season.

Kid was absolutely nails in the NHL and only slowed down when they tried to solve their LHD problem by moving him to the left like idiots before sending him to the AHL and juniors, so while no one is pretending he's a shutdown d-man, the driveby comments about his defense/all-around game are misinformed on his pro play.

I said more than others I hated him going back to juniors from a defensive perspective because the concerns with his defense have nothing to do with sacking his peers for lunch money, it's with handling bigger better checkers and power forwards. What he's doing down there is irrelevant to me from that standpoint. It's nice that he gets to be offensively dominant to a silly degree and maybe that will help him too, and he clearly needed to get stronger as he learned by getting trucked by Jamie Benn, but anything related to his defense at the junior level after seeing him against pro men is going in one ear out the other.

 

[Vinegar Strokes]

Sometimes high end scorers, especially Dmen, who go back to junior after a NHL stint are told to work on their D, and not worry about points.Clarke obviously didn’t get the memo.

Clarke goes back and immediately makes his team a contender by being a dynamic force on the ice and this is the post you come up with.

If Clarke is going to make a real impact in the NHL he needs to be the cocky f*** that dictates play when he’s on the ice, not practice his net front defense against kids.

He’s never going to be Jacob Slavin but he could be Dougie Hamilton if he plays to his strengths and he’s not going to learn proper defense playing juniors anyways, let the kid torch the league and build his confidence.

 

[yessir29292]

Clarke was suspended for a game. Series tied 2-2 now hes back next game.

 

[King'sPawn]

17 points in 5 playoff games so far. Barrie moves on to round 2.

 

[Eggtimer]

Will his skatimg an issue at all I’m the NHL or was that over-blown that his odd skating stride would limit his game? It will be very cool to watch who will become the best D to come out of that draft. Plenty of good ones to watch !

 

[MrHeiskanen]

I saw a post on the Dallas forums that Clarke was jerking off towards the crowd? Lmfao

Surprised I don't see anything in here with more details.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Will his skatimg an issue at all I’m the NHL or was that over-blown that his odd skating stride would limit his game? It will be very cool to watch who will become the best D to come out of that draft. Plenty of good ones to watch !

Limited sample size but the Kings were bad at the beginning of the season--so no real insulation--and there was no indication that his skating was an issue. He's smart enough to be ahead of the play. I think of someone like Drew where skating was never really a strength OR a weakness, if anything, his awkwardness worked FOR him,t hat's the case for BC so far. The only time I ever saw him get caught was when he was about to go on a breakaway lol

 

[jballa95]

I saw a post on the Dallas forums that Clarke was jerking off towards the crowd? Lmfao

Surprised I don't see anything in here with more details.

From my angle, it looked like he was subtly making that gesture during a tv timeout when facing the crowd (right after he taunted the fans after he scored). It was a very subtle gesture that lasted around 5 seconds and it seems that no one has tweeted about it, so there is a possibility that I misunderstood the hand movement. It was just very odd...

 

[ponder]

Will his skatimg an issue at all I’m the NHL or was that over-blown that his odd skating stride would limit his game? It will be very cool to watch who will become the best D to come out of that draft. Plenty of good ones to watch !

I see it being a strength, not a weakness. His skating is a little unconventional - adopts a super wide stance more often than most players, and lets his ankles flex/collapse more than you usually see. However, different isn’t necessarily bad - he’s got amazing edgework, super fluid on all his turns and transitions, just really great agility in general. Not gonna wow you with his straight line speed, but it’s also not an issue, it’s fine.

Note that guys like Cale Makar and Rasmus Dahlin also have that wide stance, high ankle flex style a fair bit, and they’re both utterly elite skaters. Clarke doesn’t have their raw speed, but he does have high end agility and decent speed. I think ppl are used to seeing the ankles cave in a little towards the inside edge, and think “bender”, but elite skaters do this on purpose, it’s a way to make turns extra quick/tight, especially when maneuvering in small spaces and at lower speeds.