The Barrie Colts will have some significant firepower on the back end to close out the Ontario Hockey League season.
It was announced Friday afternoon that Brandt Clarke, who served as Colts captain during the 2021-22 OHL season and is coming off a gold-medal performance with Team Canada at the IIHF world junior tournament on Thursday, has been reassigned to the Colts by the Los Angeles Kings.
Clarke, 19, picked up a pair of assists in Canada’s 3-2 overtime win to capture gold against Czechia in Halifax on Thursday. He returns to Barrie following his first taste of NHL action earlier this season.
Selected by the Kings with the eighth-overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft, Clarke played nine games with Los Angeles, recording two assists. He also had a goal and an assist in five games with the American Hockey League’s Ontario Reign during a conditioning loan.
Clarke was a leader on Barrie's blue-line in 2021-22, finishing second among OHL defenders with 1.07 points-per-game. Hailing from Nepean, Ont., he recorded 11 goals, 48 assists and 59 points in 55 games for the Colts during his sophomore season before missing the playoffs due to injury.
A former fourth-overall pick in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection, Clarke registered 38 points (6-32–38) as a rookie in 2019-20.
Clarke led all OHL players at the world juniors with eight points (2-6–8) in seven games to guide Canada to its second of back-to-back gold medals at the annual international showcase. He’s the second Canadian National Junior Team player to be reassigned to the OHL on Friday, after captain Shane Wright was sent to the Kingston Frontenacs from the Seattle Kraken earlier in the day.
The Colts are in Mississauga tonight to take on the Steelheads before playing host to the Niagara IceDogs on Saturday. They’ll play host to the Flint Firebirds on Thursday, Jan. 12.
