Oct. 30: Clarke cleared waivers and will be assigned to AHL Iowa, per Friedman.
Oct. 29: The Wild have activated winger Graeme Clarke from season-opening injured reserve and placed him on waivers to assign him to AHL Iowa, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Clarke, 23, was a third-round pick of the Devils in 2019. The right-winger made his NHL debut last season for New Jersey, going without a point and posting a -2 rating in three contests. Slated to become a restricted free agent last summer, the Devils traded his signing rights to Minnesota in exchange for pending RFA Adam Beckman in June. Clarke went on to sign a two-way deal with the Wild ($800K/$105K) the following month.
The older brother of Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke had an All-Star campaign in the AHL last season with the Devils’ affiliate in Utica, leading them in goals with 25 and adding 24 assists for 49 points in 67 games. The 6’0″, 174-lb winger posted 149 points in 218 career minor-league appearances in the New Jersey organization in parts of four seasons.
There may be some interest in Clarke’s services, given his back-to-back 25-goal campaigns in the minors, but it’s likelier than not that he’ll clear waivers tomorrow without incident. If so, he’ll be a major boon to a weak Minnesota minor-league system. Funnily enough, Iowa and Utica are the only remaining winless teams in the AHL. Through seven games, Iowa is 0-6-1 and has been outscored 36-18.
Clarke will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer. He sustained an undisclosed injury late in Minnesota’s exhibition schedule, landing him on SOIR.