EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Defenders who play it safe don’t take a pass off the half-wall, spin a decorated Stanley Cup-winning blueliner into oblivion, and then stage a Hall of Fame-bound tournament. teammate for one of the easiest goals of his career.

Kings of Los Angeles defense Brandt Clarke did that to Las Vegas Alex Pietrangelo – and for Anze Kopitar – in a victory last Wednesday. Clarke, 21, has only played in 38 nhl games, but he put one highly respected veteran on his highlight reel and left another pointing and smiling at him.

“He’s really just doing his thing,” Kopitar said. “The spin-o-ramas, joining the rush, everything.”

Adrian Kempewho threw that initial pass in his direction, was equally speechless when the play concluded.

“He’s not lacking in confidence, that’s for sure,” said Kempe, the Kings’ top right wing. “It’s incredible to see. I don’t know how many players in the league would have done that. “It was amazing to see.”

Brandt Clarke. Our jaw is on the floor. pic.twitter.com/t20rC8A1Tb

– Kings of Los Angeles (@LAKings) October 31, 2024

That snapshot showed Clarke at his dynamic best. He is an itinerant defender who, at any moment, can become an attacking forward, not only detecting the offensive opportunity but making it a reality.

Clarke has the mind to process and execute in a matter of seconds, plus the self-confidence to attempt a play without a second thought. That carries risks. On this play, for example, if Pietrangelo had gotten to the puck before Clarke and made a play toward a Vegas teammate, the Kings would have been scrambling to cover Clarke as he attempted to skate back into some sort of defensive position.

Clarke could have played it safer by stopping in the neutral zone or inside the blue line. But he trusted his defensive partner, joel edmundsonand in the Kings’ system, where he can feel confident taking advantage of a moment. That is a trait that is not common in all defenders.

But it has always been in Clarke, the eighth pick in the 2021 draft. With star defense Drew Doughty Sidelined for several months, Clarke is bouncing around in her expanding role. He had an assist in the Kings’ 3-0 win over nashville on Monday, giving him a team-high 11 assists this season, plus a goal, in 13 games. That comes at a time when Los Angeles needs him to become an everyday player and fill a huge void on the right side.

“It’s been really good,” Kempe said. “I think he is also taking a step in each game. He’s being more mature and making the right plays. It’s fun to watch and you can definitely see the potential there.”

Seven of Clarke’s 11 assists have been top-notch, and four of them have come at even strength. That’s the sign of a defenseman who can do more than move the puck. Yes, there is a risk that NHL head coaches will hate if it is too much.

After Clarke’s three-assist game against VegasKings coach Jim Hiller said: “He’s off to a good start scoring-wise for sure. He has taken some risks that have helped him get those points. He’s taken some risks that have cost us more than anyone else: they don’t go so much in the (other) column, you know what I mean? I’m just very careful with that.

“He is a good offensive player, there is no doubt. You just have to play a full game. We’re just not going to let him run up and down the ice and become a point-per-game player if that’s what he ends up doing. You just have to play the game the right way and your points will come. But there is no doubt that he has done a good job. “He is contributing offensively and we needed him.”

Not exactly effusive praise, eh? It could also be a coach who doesn’t want his young player to get caught up in glory. An NHL player’s fortunes can change from game to game, particularly for a defenseman in his first full season. But as the Kings continue to present Clarke as the big, minute-difference player they envision him becoming, they must be careful not to neutralize the aspects that will distinguish him from most blueliners.

Whether they expected it to happen that quickly or not, the Kings need Clarke to absorb significant minutes. Matt RoyClarke’s departure via free agency all but guaranteed a spot for Clarke. But when Doughty suffered a broken ankle in the preseason, it meant relying more on the youngster and everything that comes with him.

It’s something the Kings coaching staff should learn to live with. Because Clarke’s sense of the unexpected is something they can use to their advantage.

“I think my whole life I’ve been very lucky with my instincts and my ability to read plays and all that,” Clarke said. “At the end of the day, the team that makes the fewest mistakes 99 percent of the time wins the game. I’m trying to make as few mistakes as I can. I think that also goes the other way. If the other team is making a mistake or sleeping, I’m usually the first to notice. I want to capitalize.

“And even if it doesn’t look like there’s anything there – (maybe) I could see maybe three guys under the goal line – if it ever looks like an easy play against the wall, I’ll turn it on. I’m going to try to be in a place where I say, ‘Hey, let’s get this on the ice.’ Let’s put pressure on them now. Let’s fold them. Let’s get them to control us and put some pressure on them.’

“I think in that sense I don’t want to say that I am a risky player. I just want to say that I trust my instincts.”

Clarke’s ice time at even strength ranks fourth among the eight defensemen who have played games for the Kings. While he is not being used on the Kings’ penalty kill, Clarke is getting time on the power play, having assumed Doughty’s spot on the first unit.

The day after Clarke’s big game against Las Vegas, Hiller went into more detail about the youngster’s growth and praised his vast improvement in defensive play. To put it in the simplest terms, the coach felt he couldn’t trust that part of Clarke’s game after the Kings removed him from the AHL in January. “I still couldn’t defend in the NHL and I needed to get back to the American League,” Hiller said.

With Clarke building up his strength over the summer, Hiller now feels he has “answered the bell” and is holding his own in defence. If it weren’t, as the coach maintains, he wouldn’t play as much and there would be doubts about his use. For example, last season Hiller basically used Clarke as a power-play specialist on nights the Kings played seven defensemen.

The Kings have long believed in Clarke’s high ceiling and are seeing him approach it. And at some point, Doughty, 34, won’t be the No. 1 they’ve relied on for a decade and a half. But they are determined to make Clarke a complete defender.

Some signs of this are showing. When Clarke was on the ice in a five-on-five game last season, Los Angeles was outscored 9-4. In the 13 games they have played this season, the Kings have outscored their opponents 12-8 at even strength.

“Drew’s game came together very quickly,” Hiller said. “He wouldn’t have been able to play at the world level, (at the) international level like he did if he was just an offensive defenseman. They wouldn’t have been interested in him. They had a lot of that. He was able to complete his entire game and be that guy you could trust, both on offense and defense. Probably the hardest thing to do as a defenseman in the NHL is be good or elite on both sides. We have an example for (Clarke) in Drew, and that’s what we expect from him.

“We understand that he is young and that it will take some time. But he’s done a really good job. “He’s done a really good job.”

Clarke’s 2.94 expected goals against per 60 minutes of five-on-five play are the highest on the Kings, per Evolving-Hockey (as of Monday). But his 3.35 xGF/60 is also the best. Hiller has called Edmundson the perfect partner for Clarke, who is reading the stay-at-home veteran’s protective style. “Below the goal line, it’s unbelievable,” Clarke said. “He wins all the battles. He takes the puck off the wall and makes the simple play. I see that. “I trust him that he will win the battle.”

And while the Kings should demand that Clarke recognize the right time to take a risk, they shouldn’t take advantage of what makes him unique. Playing it safe would not have led him to give Kopitar an uncontested goal.

“I just assess situations and help where I can,” Clarke said. “I don’t want to separate anything I do from the identity of the team. But I think it’s starting to show up in games where guys understand the plays I can make. Plays I can still hit them with. If they stay open, even if it looks like I’m not in it anymore, maybe I can still deliver it to them or something. Or even upload it to the network so they can stay there.

“It’s not even a question of communication. …It’s more just reading and reacting. (Teammates think) ‘I know I’ve seen Clarkie do this many times, I’ll still stay here.’ I think it’s just the comfort of the whole team. It’s opening up more opportunities like that.”

(Photo by Brandt Clarke: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)