The LA Kings have signed defenseman Brandt Clarke to a five-year contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of $7,400,000 through the 2030-31 season.
Clarke, 23, skated in all 82 games for the Kings last season, setting professional-bests in goals (8), assists (32), points (40), power-play points (13), blocked shots (185) and time-on-ice per game (TOI; 19:48). His 40 points paced all team defensemen and was tied for fourth in overall team scoring, while his 185 blocked shots ranked third in the league among all skaters. The 6-2, 200-pound defenseman became the ninth different blueliner in Kings history to record a 40-point season at 23 years of age or younger, and the first to do so since Drew Doughty in 2010-11 (11-29=40). He added one helper in four Stanley Cup Playoff contests.
Selected eighth overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, Clarke has accumulated 15 goals and 81 points (15-66=81) in 185 career regular-season games with the Kings. In his first full season with the Kings in 2024-25, Clarke registered five goals and 33 points (5-28=33) in 78 games. That same season, he made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut where he recorded a pair of goals in six games. Clarke also posted 48 points (11-37=48) in 55 games over parts of two seasons (2022-24) with the Ontario Reign, the Kings’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate.
Prior to joining the NHL ranks full-time, Clarke spent three seasons (2019-23) with the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) where he registered 40 goals and 158 points (40-118=158), including
61 points (23-38=61) in 31 games in 2022-23 for a league-best 1.97 points-per-game average. In his rookie season (2019-20) with Barrie, Clarke collected 38 points (6-32=38) in 57 games to lead all rookie defensemen in points and assists and finished second in goals. Clarke also registered 15 points (5-10=15) in 26 games with HC Nove Zamky in Slovakia in 2020-21.
Internationally, the Nepean, Ontario native has represented Team Canada at two International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) tournaments, including the 2023 Men’s World Junior Championship (gold) and 2021 Under-18 Men’s World Junior Championship (gold).
