Brandt Clarke Ready to "Push The Envelope" With New 5-Year Contract

Brandt is back.

And he’s pretty excited about it.

“Both parties wanted me in Los Angeles, that’s where I want to be and that’s where I want to progress with my career, everyone’s been so great to me,” Clarke said of re-signing with the Kings. “There were some discussions, a few back and forths, but there was no point when I was nervous [it wouldn’t get done]. I was just going with the flow and things started to ramp up and but and we got to where we got to. I was happy with how everything played out.”

There were a number of different options on the table when it came to Clarke. Negotiations included a few different thoughts, different lengths and numbers. Clarke said that a contract as long as eight years was discussed early in the process, but a five-year term was agreed upon fairly early in the process. The AAV was the real back and forth but the two sides agreed shortly before the draft began. Ultimately, the two sides met towards the middle, with the five-year deal buying one year of Clarke’s unrestricted free agency, cementing his place here with the Kings over the next two years. The cap number is a substantial raise for Clarke but also a more manageable number for the Kings.

While Clarke never considered the prospect of not re-signing, with the ease of completing the deal a testament to that, he’s also not satisfied with the status quo of simply coming back.

Clarke took a big step forward in a number of ways last season. He hit the 40-point mark for the first time and played more than three and a half minutes more per game then he did in 2024-25. His matchups were less sheltered and he saw more time on the first power-play unit. On the Kings, though, Clarke was still utilized in a second-pairing role. His minutes both 5-on-5 and overall ranked third on the team during the regular season and fell to fourth in the playoffs versus Colorado, despite the Kings playing tied or from behind for the bulk of that series. As he enters his third full season at the NHL level, Clarke feels he is ready to take that next step forward.

$7,400,000 per season is not second-pairing money. Clarke now has the AAV of a top-pairing defenseman and he believes he is ready to shoulder the load that comes along with that territory.

“I’m not just trying to be an offensive defenseman, I want to be trusted in those other situations too,” Clarke said. “We’re up a goal, maybe even the penalty kill, I think I block lots of shots and I’m smart back there with my reads. If I can add these elements to my game and they start putting me in those spots, I want to make them proud, I want to capitalize on my opportunities. We have a really solid, intelligent d-core that has some of those roles, but if I can go in and do well in those spots, I’d be really happy with that. I think that’s what they want for me and that’s where my mindset is for sure.”

With that comes responsibility and expectations.

Clarke will have to meet those. As he said, it’s about more than just producing offensively. To be that player, not only will he need to generate more than 40 points, but also do the other things that come with the territory, on a consistent basis. You can ride the bike with training wheels for as long as you want but once they come off, you have to be able to keep it moving forward. Clarke has proven all he can with the training wheels on. We don’t know how Clarke will handle the role of a top-pairing defenseman until he is allowed to play that role. He’s shown a ton of positive progression, with his puck movement, his underlying metrics, the improvement of his reads and his willingness to block shots defensively. All good things that you could see translating, if and when he gets that chance.

And the Kings need to get those kinds of contributions from younger players. It starts with Clarke, as well as Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere up front.

The Kings will play their first season without Anze Kopitar, which leaves a whole both on and off the ice. Byfield will take on a large part of filling that role on the ice but collectively, the Kings need to get more from several areas of their lineup and those three younger players are where a lot of that growth could come from, after a 15-point drop off in the standings last season. If you ask Clarke, that’s a part of the new foundation of the LA Kings, younger guys who are ready to deliver more.

“I think we’re ready for it, guys like myself, Laffy, Q,” he said. “Maybe we haven’t been around as long as some of the other guys, but we haven’t done enough winning in the past couple years and that’s not up to par. That’s not what we want. We want to push the envelope, we want to be a contender. I think we’re ready to turn the page, all of us, and take another step. We know our older guys are going to be dialed in and still want to win so badly. I think we have a really good crew coming back here and I’m looking forward to September.”

Part of that older group centers around Drew Doughty, who is the last remaining piece from the team’s championships in 2012 and 2014.

A lot of times, a Clarke versus Doughty debate surfaces on social media or in the media. Couldn’t be further from the case inside the room. Clarke has a ton of respect for Doughty as a player and person and has appreciated learning from him along the way, crediting him for encouragement and help as he's matured as a player. Clarke still wants to keep learning from Doughty and it sounds like he will, with Ken Holland’s recent comments about Doughty staying with the organization this season. It's not a one versus the other situation and Clarke can grow while Doughty is still here, something Clarke seems to welcome. 

“I don’t think there’s every going to be a point where I stop learning from Drew, whether it be the next few years when he’s on the team, this upcoming season or even years beyond, I’m still going to be in touch with him, he’s one of my really good friends now,” Clarke said. “He’s been so huge for me since the day I got here, I’m grateful for him. He’s really encouraging me, he just wants me to take that step. He believes in me and he tells me that, he's been so good to me.”

The next steps for Clarke will likely come by meeting with Peter Laviolette and Phil Housley, who he will work with closely next season. 

Laviolette reached out to Clarke via text after the extension and the two will connect on the phone over the next few weeks, which is what Laviolette is doing right now with every player on the team, to begin building that relationship and getting to know his players. With Housley, who joined the staff earlier today, he’s one of the NHL’s all-time greats in terms of offensive defenseman. Who better to grow from, as it pertains to growing that part of his game, as so many other blueliners have done over the years. That’s certainly an area of excitement.

“He’s coached really good defensemen in the past, who have excelled under him and taken steps under him, become a player who excels even more when he’s their coach,” Clarke said of Housley. “I’m ready for that. It’s going to be nice to have his voice, encouraging me, wanting me to do what I do and leading the way. Phil, he was an incredible defenseman for so many years, the numbers he produced, are so remarkable. I’m going to soak it all in. I’m just really excited to be around a different culture and hopefully it helps us to take the step and we start producing more wins on the ice. That’s all that matters in the end.”

Clarke was the final restricted free agent the Kings had to take care of. With July 1 on the calendar tomorrow, it means the organization knows exactly what it has to work with as it pertains to trying to bolster the roster in other areas. The Kings will likely make at least a small splash in unrestricted free agency, but to make a real impact, that move likely needs to come via trade. With Clarke now locked in and his cap hit known, the Kings can plan accordingly. That they got this deal done first shows the priority placed on Clarke's deal, as opposed to a couple of times in the past where players almost had to compromise on cap hits, because of other moves made and a flat cap. 

With Clarke, it was clear he was a priority for the organization and now he's locked in.

"It's very honoring that the Kings gave me this commitment, this is a big investment in my abilities and the belief in me," he added. "Just to get that from them is super flattering and I'm super honored. I'm super excited for the next five years and we want to take that next step. We want to win games and I think we're ready to do that, so it's going to be fun."