Could Flyers be interested in Brandt Clarke?
A team trading their 21-year-old, right-handed defenseman who leads their blue line in scoring, would be crazy, right? Well, not according to Kevin Weekes.
On Wednesday afternoon, the ESPN analyst sent out a tweet about young Los Angeles Kings blueliner Brandt Clarke being a healthy scratch with Drew Doughty returning to the lineup after recovering from an injury that has kept the veteran out for the season. While it is fairly normal for someone in his first season as a full-time NHLer to make way for one of the franchise legends returning, Weekes added an interesting wrinkle.
Weekes pondered if this move, and the diminishing ice time Clarke has been getting — he hasn’t played over 15 minutes in a game since Jan. 11, and not over 20 minutes since Nov. 20 — could be a sign that they could move on from the former eighth overall selection.
**Keep An Eye 👁️ On**With the return of D Doughty to @LAKings lineup, D Clarke who leads the team in PTS by D appears to be a healthy scratch tonight. Perhaps Kings setting up a move with is ice time diminishing. #GOKINGSGO #HockeyX pic.twitter.com/rsFSFh3ses— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) January 29, 2025
Of course, just several words strung together from an insider about a young player potentially involved in a trade sent the online world ablaze and every single fan base was begging their front office to make a move for this hypothetically available defenseman.
But the Philadelphia Flyers might have a jump ahead of everyone else.
On Wednesday afternoon’s episode of “The Sheet”, just hours after Weekes’s tweet, Jeff Marek gave some insight about some past interest from the Flyers on young Brandt Clarke.
“There have been teams that have called before. I think it was two years ago, when Clarke was going through an awkward phase with the Los Angeles Kings, I think Philadelphia was around it,” Marek said Wednesday. “And trying to get Brandt Clarke. I know that Flahr and Briere, before Briere got the GM job, spent a lot of time in Barrie. Now, they had the cover because they were probably there to watch Tyson Foerster, but at the same time, to have an eyeball at Brandt Clarke. So I’ve always wondered, if LA was going to make a move, I always wondered if it was going to be with the Philadelphia Flyers if Brandt Clarke was involved.”
Clarke has been up and down with the Kings. Made the NHL roster at 19 years old back in the 2022-23 season, was sent down to the AHL briefly on a conditioning stint, played the World Juniors, and then went back to the OHL’s Barrie Colts. Then last season, he started the year in the AHL at 20 years old, and had two separate stints in the NHL that amassed to 16 games. Now as a full-timer, Clarke has been unbelievable; scoring three goals and 24 points in 47 games. An offensive dynamo who has the size and skating ability that almost every single team dreams of.
But, the wrinkle is that the Flyers’ past interest was most likely associated with the Cutter Gauthier trade and then they decided to take the Anaheim Ducks’ package involving a similar defenseman in Jamie Drysdale. Now Drysdale is older and has not shown the same level of play in the NHL as Clarke, but would it be overkill?
The only thing that makes us think that the Flyers could potentially revisit their interest in Clarke is the fact that the Kings blueliner could potentially be that all-around player, while Drysdale might be more sheltered and used in a way to maximize his offense. Clarke seems like that workhorse every team covets and with Rasmus Ristolainen potentially gone by the March 7 trade deadline, a spot on the right side would certainly open up.
A long-term right side of the blue line featuring Brandt Clarke, Jamie Drysdale, and potentially Oliver Bonk? That’s something that could be extremely enticing for Danny Briere and the rest of Flyers management....
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