One of the underlying themes for junior-aged players in the NHL is noting when they officially burn the first year of their entry-level contract once they play in their tenth game of the season. Some teams are comfortable going past that point and are more concerned with the second threshold of 40 games on the active roster when a player accrues a year of service time towards UFA eligibility. Others try to drag out the decision as long as they can to allow for extra evaluation time.
The Kings are clearly in the latter category when it comes to defenseman Brandt Clarke. Los Angeles selected the 19-year-old eighth overall in 2021 following a strong season with Barrie of the OHL. He returned to the Colts last season and simply dominated, notching 59 points in 55 games and did well enough in six preseason games to earn a spot on the opening roster.
Before going any further, it’s worth noting that the agreement between the NHL and CHL prohibits junior-aged players from playing in the minors until their age-20 year (with the exception being if they’ve already played four seasons of major junior). With Clarke not in his age-20 year, his playing options this season are the NHL and the OHL only.
Los Angeles quickly burned through Clarke’s nine games, the last of which came on November 1st. At that time, they opted to hold him out of the lineup long enough to satisfy the conditions needed to make him eligible for a two-week conditioning stint with AHL Ontario which supersedes the NHL/CHL agreement in that one scenario and it’s not one that can be used repeatedly. Clarke went down, played in five games with the Reign, and was recalled on Sunday where he has been scratched ever since.
It’s certainly understandable that the Kings might not want to return him to junior, a league that Clarke has proven all that he really needs to prove. In that sense, dropping down to a lower level might be perceived as stagnating his development. However, simply not playing isn’t exactly helping his development either. There’s something to be gained from practicing with the big club, but that’s only for a certain amount of time before not suiting up becomes problematic. Plus, keeping a player up with no intention of playing him isn’t the most efficient use of cap space as the Kings could stand to benefit from banking some extra room to use closer to the trade deadline this season.
There’s one way that the Kings could kick this decision a little further down the road. If Clarke is invited to participate at Team Canada’s training camp for the upcoming World Juniors, Los Angeles could hold him on the roster for a few more days and then loan him to Canada’s squad. They would then reserve the ability to recall him at that time when they could evaluate him in a few more practices and then decide what to do. If they were to loan him to the OHL before Canada’s camp begins, they wouldn’t be able to recall Clarke back to Los Angeles.
That would then take them to the OHL trade deadline (January 10th) where they could see if he’s moved to a more favorable situation or if Barrie, who could add top draft prospect Eduard Sale after the World Juniors, loads up, creating a better opportunity for him to return to. At this point, it appears that this is the route that they’re likely to take.
In the meantime, barring a change of heart that puts him in the lineup in the coming days (they next play Tuesday against Ottawa), it appears the waiting game for Clarke will continue for at least a few more days but with Canada’s camp starting soon, they’ll have a decision to make in the near future.
