Kings sign defenseman Brandt Clarke to five-year contract extension (AAV: $7,400,000)

The LA Kings have signed defenseman Brandt Clarke to an five-year contract extension, carrying an AAV of $7,400,000.

More on a huge start to draft weekend below.

Instant Analysis
Bang. There’s a huge item off the checklist. Clarke was the team’s number-one priority this summer as a restricted free agent and he comes to terms on a new contract prior to July 1, which is much sooner than we’ve seen in the past with these kinds of deals.

When it came to players like Quinton Byfield or Mikey Anderson, these deals as RFA’s took more time. I am personally a little bit surprised by the terms here. Pleasantly surprised. I thought that the Kings would look to sign Clarke for eight years at a much higher number than this. I thought that Clarke might look for a two-year contract at a number around this one, with the intention of going out and proving he deserves an eight-figure cap hit on a long-term deal. The two sides ultimately met in the middle. A five-year term locks Clarke in as a part of the core here in Los Angeles. The cap hit coming in where it did is extremely manageable and gives the Kings a lot of flexibility, both short and long term. There’s no right answer here, as to what the best contract for a player in this position is. That the Kings got the deal done before July 1 is a win in itself, so that the Kings know what Clarke’s number is going into any potential trades or free agent signings to come.

Clarke had a breakout season in 2025-26, as he led all Kings blueliners in goals, assists and points. His icetime went up by more than three and a half minutes per game last season and his usage was heavily tilted upwards from what we saw during his first full season in the league in 2024-25. He reached 40 points for the first time in the NHL and he had 18 primary assists, with only four blueliners around the league posting more at 5-on-5. The Kings did not produce a ton of offense from the blueline last season but Clarke was not a part of that problem. He scored 35 percent of goals by defensemen and more than 30 percent of points.

While Clarke is thought of as an offensive blueliner, he’s also one of the best shot blockers in the NHL. He ranked this in the NHL in blocked shots this past season and when you break that down into 5-on-5 situations only, Clarke led the NHL with 170 blocked shots. Only one other player in the league was even over 150. Taking this context from his season review – blocked shots alone isn’t always a good metric, if it is an accumulated stat from being caved into the defensive zone, however the Kings controlled nearly 55 percent of shot attempts with Clarke on the ice, the best clip on the Los Angeles blueline. That’s a really impressive combination, especially for a player who profiles as an offensive blueliner.

Now comes what I think is a pivotal next step for Clarke. He was relied upon substantially more last season, which is good. But there is more that can come here. The Kings need to know if Clarke can be a number-one defenseman in the NHL and to learn that, they have to play him as a number-one defenseman in the NHL. I think this deal is something that signals the team’s intention for Clarke to take that next step. Excited to see what he’s capable of and glad to see the deal get done as quickly as it did.

From the team’s official release –

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).