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Damian Clara

Snapshots: Panthers, Clara, Malmstrom

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Last season, the Panthers used the LTIR flexibility from Matthew Tkachuk to add big at the trade deadline.  Adam Proteau of The Hockey News argues that Florida should take the same approach and use the savings to add a rental player before the season starts.  While that would only increase the amount of cap space they’d need to open up when he returns midseason (barring further long-term injuries), it would also give them a boost in the first half.  While the Panthers came on strong in the playoffs, they struggled a bit down the stretch with Tkachuk out of the lineup and a slower start this season could complicate things in a tight Atlantic Division.  Accordingly, the idea of pre-renting a player makes some sense in theory with an eye on fortifying their roster for the first half but the need to open up room to welcome Tkachuk back later on would only be intensified, rarely an ideal position to be in midseason.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • After a season that saw him play at four different levels plus internationally for Italy, Ducks prospect Damian Clara is hoping for more stability this season. He has already been loaned to SHL Brynas and as he told Gefle Dagblad’s Daniel Sandstrom, both he and Anaheim were in agreement that returning to Brynas (where he played in 2023-24) was the only viable option for him.  The Ducks have already signed him to an entry-level contract but with three other prospect netminders signed who need playing time, keeping him in Sweden made sense.  Clara had a 3.19 GAA and a .879 SV% in 21 SHL games last season with Farjestad.  He has already been named to Italy’s roster for the upcoming Olympics as well.
  • After being non-tendered by St. Louis back in June, defenseman Anton Malmstrom signed a one-year deal in Sweden. However, he indicated to HockeySverige’s Robin Olausson that he did have offers to remain in North America although he didn’t indicate if they were NHL two-way offers or merely minor-league pacts.  The 25-year-old signed with St. Louis as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and split his time since then between the AHL and ECHL levels.

Ducks Loan Damian Clara, Lucas Pettersson To Brynäs IF

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The Ducks have loaned goalie Damian Clara and forward Lucas Pettersson to the SHL’s Brynäs IF for 2025-26 as they continue their development, the Swedish club announced yesterday.

While Pettersson’s was previously assumed, Clara’s is noteworthy. The Italian netminder signed his entry-level contract last summer, and while the Ducks first loaned him to the SHL’s Färjestäd BK and then the Liiga’s Kärpät for 2024-25, he was a candidate to jump stateside and join the AHL’s San Diego Gulls this season after he played two games there down the stretch.

There’s a bit of a logjam in Anaheim’s goalie pipeline, though. They’re one of the few teams projected to carry three netminders on their NHL roster (Lukáš Dostál, Ville Husso, Petr Mrázek). They also have three goalie prospects under contract who will play for either the Gulls or the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers this year: Vyacheslav Buteyets, Calle Clang, and Tomas Suchanek. That meant there wasn’t a clear path for the promising Clara to get playing time statside next season, so they’ll instead get their youngest signed goaltender more reps overseas.

The 20-year-old Clara has played for Brynäs before, just not in Sweden’s top league. He spent the 2023-24 season there after Anaheim drafted him in the second round, playing a crucial role in helping Brynäs earn promotion from the HockeyAllsvenskan back to the SHL. The 6’6″ goalie posted a .913 SV% in 34 regular-season games before logging a stellar .931 SV% and 1.68 GAA in 11 qualification games to send them back to the top flight.

Brynäs had an exceptionally successful first campaign back in the SHL, winning the regular-season title and finishing as runners-up in the playoffs. Clara now hopes to bolster their encore performance. He’ll share the crease with former NHL netminder Collin Delia, and another former NHLer, Erik Källgren, is on their roster but is expected to be out until January after undergoing hip surgery.

He and Pettersson, who the Ducks nabbed in the second round of the 2024 draft, will get to play with former Anaheim winger Jakob Silfverberg. This will be Pettersson’s first season in Brynäs after the 19-year-old posted a 9-10–19 scoring line in 26 games for Östersunds IK of the HockeyAllsvenskan last season.

Ducks Recall Ville Husso

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The Ducks have recalled goaltender Ville Husso from AHL San Diego after John Gibson left last night’s start with a lower-body injury, according to the AHL’s transactions log. In a corresponding move, the team reassigned prospect Damian Clara to replace Husso on San Diego’s roster. He was previously on loan to Liiga’s Kärpät.

Anaheim has recalled Husso frequently since acquiring him from the Red Wings in February, constantly as a fill-in for the oft-injured Gibson. This is Gibson’s third injury-related absence in the past six weeks, including a three-gamer in February and a seven-gamer last month. While the latter was due to a lower-body injury, it’s unclear if the injury he sustained last night against the Flames is related.

While Gibson’s absences have meant more playing time for the upstart Lukáš Dostál than for Husso, the third-stringer has made a start and a relief appearance for the Ducks since the move. He’s allowed five goals on 51 shots for a good .902 SV%, although his only decision was a 3-2 loss to Utah on March 12. When considering his nine appearances with Detroit, his numbers for the year are still underwhelming. The struggling 30-year-old has a 1-6-2 record, .874 SV% and 3.71 GAA in nine starts and two relief appearances across both clubs while allowing 7.0 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck.

A pending unrestricted free agent, Husso won’t earn anything resembling his current $4.75MM cap hit on the open market this summer. A two-way deal may even be necessary for him to land another NHL contract. He’s still been strong enough in the minors to command a No. 3 role, posting a 2.64 GAA, .910 SV%, and a 15-6-0 record in 22 appearances split between AHL Grand Rapids and San Diego.

With the Ducks now mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Husso remain up for the last two weeks of the campaign while Gibson gets an early start to his offseason.

As for Clara, the 20-year-old will get his first taste of life in North America to close his 2024-25 season. It didn’t go as well as he’d hoped overseas, posting a .879 SV% and 3.19 GAA in 21 appearances for Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League before his late-season transfer to Finland. It’s worth noting that was Clara’s debut against top-level European competition – his breakout 2023-24 campaign was spent in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan, helping Brynäs IF gain promotion back to the SHL for this season with a .913 SV% in 34 outings.

The 6’6″ Italian improved his play down the stretch, logging a 2.49 GAA, .910 SV%, one shutout, and a 3-7-0 record in 10 showings with Kärpät to end the season. He’ll almost certainly serve as Italy’s starting netminder for the 2026 Winter Olympics, which they’ll participate in as the host country. A second-round pick by Anaheim in 2023, he adds to a decent complement of young goalies in the organization behind Dostál that also includes Calle Clang and Tomas Suchanek – neither of whom are available to San Diego right now because of injuries.

Ducks Terminate SHL Loan Agreement For Damian Clara

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Saturday: Clara’s next team is now known as Karpat in Finland’s Liiga announced that the netminder is joining them for the remainder of the season.  He’s expected to report to the team on Sunday.

Friday: Generally, when an NHL-contracted prospect is loaned overseas, that loan is for the duration of the season.  However, in rare occasions, the NHL club can try to end it prematurely.  That appears to be the case for Ducks prospect Damian Clara.  Originally on loan to SHL Farjestad, the team announced that at Anaheim’s request, Clara has been released to play elsewhere.

The Ducks drafted the 20-year-old 60th overall in the 2023 draft, making him the fifth goalie off the board.  He spent that season with Farjestad’s junior team and while his numbers weren’t particularly strong (a 2.79 GAA with a .903 SV% in 35 games), the fact he stands six-foot-six and some of his raw tools made him a popular speculative sleeper pick heading into the draft.  Clearly, Anaheim felt he had enough upside to be one of the first goalies taken.

Clara had a strong showing in 2023-24, putting up a 2.23 GAA with a .913 SV% in 34 games with Brynas of the second-tier Allsvenskan and was even better in the playoffs as they were able to gain promotion to the SHL this season.  He did well enough to sign his entry-level deal back in June but was loaned out again for this season.

However, Clara returned to Farjestad instead of remaining with Brynas.  This season, he had a 3.19 GAA with a .879 SV% in 21 outings, splitting time with former NHL goalie Maxime Lagace.  However, Farjestad recently signed another former NHL netminder, Anders Lindback, making Clara the third-string option.

To that end, Farjestad’s release announced that the Ducks were terminating the loan agreement due to a lack of playing time.  Where he plays next remains to be seen but they will need to decide quickly as the international transfer window closes at 4:59 PM CT on Saturday.  If an international opportunity doesn’t present itself in the coming hours, it stands to reason that Clara would come to North America and report either to AHL San Diego or ECHL Tulsa.

Ducks Sign Damian Clara To Entry-Level Deal

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2:31 p.m.: Clara’s deal carries a cap hit of $878K, PuckPedia reports. In the first two years of the deal, he’ll earn a base salary of $775K, a signing bonus of $95K, and a games played bonus of $80K. In the third year, his base salary increases to $800K while his games played bonus decreases to $55K. His minor-league salary is unknown.

The Ducks have signed netminder Damian Clara to a three-year, entry-level contract, as announced by the team Monday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The 6’6″ 19-year-old joined the Ducks organization after being selected late in the second round of the 2023 draft (60th overall). The pick they used to select him was one of three draft choices acquired from the Bruins in exchange for defenseman Hampus Lindholm at the 2022 trade deadline.

Clara, the first Italian goalie taken in the NHL draft in league history, impressed in the professional ranks this season after spending the prior two seasons in the top-level Czech and Swedish junior leagues. This year, he was loaned to Brynäs IF of the Swedish second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan and proved he was worth his draft position.

He quickly unseated NHL veteran Anders Lindbäck for the starting role in Brynäs, finishing the regular season with a .913 SV%, 2.23 GAA, 25-8-0 record and four shutouts. He added a sparkling .931 SV% in 11 postseason games to guide Brynäs to the league championship and promotion back to the top-level Swedish Hockey League after being demoted last year for the first time since 1960.

Clara had already signed a contract with the SHL’s Färjestad BK next season. Since he wasn’t a first-round pick, the NHL’s transfer agreement with Swedish leagues dictates he must first be offered back to Färjestad when Anaheim cuts him from their training camp roster. This stipulation for day-two picks is in place until they’re 24 years old.

[RELATED: Examining A Key Change In The NHL’s Transfer Agreement With Sweden]

As such, he’ll likely spend the 2024-25 campaign on loan to Färjestad, where he’s expected to work in tandem with former Bruins, Golden Knights and Penguins netminder Maxime Lagace. He’s only signed through next season, though, so Clara will likely opt not to sign another overseas contract if all goes well. He could then report to the Ducks’ AHL affiliate in San Diego as soon as 2025-26 if he’s not yet ready for NHL action.

Since Clara’s 20th birthday falls next January, his ELC can slide for one season. If he plays fewer than 10 NHL games in 2024-25 as expected, the contract will instead take effect with the 2025-26 campaign, keeping him signed until the summer of 2028. He’ll be a restricted free agent upon expiry.

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